Someplace Like Home
by DarkNyarth
Summary: Ryoko wakes up to a bizarre situation: She's married to Tenchi and Ayeka is dead. What's the mystery surrounding this strange twist of fate?
1. Episode 1: No need for dreaming

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 1: No need for dreaming

Ryoko bolted from sleep with a sharp gasp, blinking away the haze of sleep. '_What was that all about?_' She thought as she ran a hand through her hair. '_Haven't dreamt like that in—'_ Someone stirred beside her, the motion froze her in place. Glancing over without moving, her breath caught in her throat—Tenchi!

'_Okay, would anyone else be quite as confused as I am right now?_' She bit her lip and stared at him.

He opened his eyes and sat up. "Ryoko, what's wrong?"

"Bad dream." She was looking at him oddly almost frightened.

"Ah... I'm sorry." He sat up and put his arms around her drawing her head to his chest. "What about this time?"

She sat motionless in his arms, face contorted in confusion. "Uh... I uh... I don't really... I don't remember." '_This has to be a dream... Just go along with it._' She shrugged and looked up at him with a smile. "It's nothing... really."

He smiled back at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Okay, I'd better get back to sleep... it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

She nodded at him. "Yep, long indeed." '_Especially when I wake up in my own bed._'

Ryoko stretched and yawned before kicking off the covers. Squinting at the sun streaming in through the window she sat up, eyes widening as she realized where she was. '_Still in Tenchi's Room?_' She pursed her lips. '_What the hell..._'

"Ryoko!" It was Tenchi, from downstairs by the sound of it. "Ryoko, are you up yet?"

"If I wasn't before..." She muttered, floating to her feet and pushing the door open to peer down the hall. "Yes, I'm up."

"Hurry up, we've got to go."

"Oh yeah... Wouldn't want to miss it." She looked about the room frantically for some clue as to what was going on. Nothing out of the ordinary—it was clean, everything tidied up except the covers she left strewn about the bed.

She opened the closet door and pawed through the clothes: hers and Tenchi's hanging side by side. "Okay, this is just weird." She complained, selecting a dark blouse and matching pants. "What is going on?"

The door opened as she was buttoning up the pants, her shirt was already in place. Tenchi walked in dressed in a dark suit, a thin tie dancing in front of the buttons on the white shirt. "What's going on?" He asked. "Are you okay?"

She sighed. "Actually, no I'm not Tenchi." She crossed her arms. "I'm confused."

"Ryoko, I know it's hard... I'm sad too but not showing up isn't going to help."

"Showing up to what?" She threw up her hands.

"Ayeka's funeral?" He asked, squinting at her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Tenchi..."

"Are you guys ready?" Mihoshi's voice asked quietly from the hall.

"Yeah, Mihoshi." Tenchi glanced back at Ryoko with a frown. "It's going to be hard, Ryoko... but we'll get through it together." He extended his hand. "For better or worse remember?"

A lump appeared in her throat as she took his hand, noticing for the first time the gold band gracing her slender finger. "My God..." She whispered and allowed him to lead her out and down the stairs. It was going to be a long day indeed.

The funeral flew by like some kind of perverse dream and Ryoko was in the mist the whole time. The words echoed eerily in the background, a mockery of reality and the guests who attended didn't really seem to be there. Half way through, she swore she was going to be sick as an overwhelming nausea settled on her stomach.

When she looked around, they were in the lobby of the temple and she had no idea how she got there. Tenchi was holding her hand tightly and she realized she was partly using him for support. People were expressing their condolences to her—giving her hugs, squeezing her arm, a kiss here, a pat there...

She wanted to scream, something within her wanted to lash out, cause a commotion and explain to them all 'This is not the way things are supposed to be!' Only twelve hours earlier, she had gone to bed not five feet from Ayeka. She was fine, nothing was wrong with her at all. So what was all this insanity? When did she marry Tenchi!?

Her eye caught Washu standing in the hall near the restroom—she was waving to her. "I'm going to talk to Washu for a minute." She whispered to Tenchi and he nodded, kissing her on the cheek before she departed.

She crossed the room, eyes fixed on Washu, her heart pounding in the hope that she would have some answers for her.

"What the hell is going on, Washu?" Ryoko asked as she came to stand before the red head. "What is all this?"

"What do you mean?" Washu looked up at her smugly, smiling.

"Don't play games right now, Washu. I'm really confused."

"I can tell." Washu frowned and crossed her arms. "As far as I can tell, something happened that changed everything."

"Huh?" Ryoko shook her head. "That doesn't make sense. If that happened, then why didn't it change me?"

"Maybe you're just too mean for temporal displacement to fool with."

"Oh very funny. Is that the best that the greatest scientific genius can come up with?"

"Hold on now." Washu looked around. "We need to discuss this at home in the lab. Maybe we can piece together some answers there."

"Why don't we go now?"

"Ayeka was your best friend, Ryoko. Don't you think you should show your respect?"

"My best—" Ryoko itched her head. "Now wait a minute... I wouldn't call Ayeka my best friend. Hell, how can you call us that? We were always at each other's throats. How the hell did she die anyway?"

"Remember when Sasami was kidnapped by Yazuha?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, Ayeka stumbled on the incident and tried to help her but Yazuha killed her."

"That's not how it happened at all!" Ryoko began to pace. "She was hurt, yeah but not dead. In fact, if it wouldn't have been for her, Tenchi and I would never have made it out of her domain."

"The tree of life?" Washu quirked a brow. "That was all thanks to Yosho."

"I don't believe this." Ryoko buried her head in a hand, the other tucked under her elbow. "This can't be happening."

"Are you alright, Ryoko?" Ryoko looked up to see Kiyone dressed in her dress uniform, a sad smile etched on her face.

Ryoko shook her head. "No... no, Kiyone I'm not."

Kiyone put her hand on Ryoko's shoulder. "I'm sorry... I know what she meant to you."

Washu patted Kiyone on the arm and nodded toward Tenchi. "Say, Kiyone could you tell Tenchi that I took Ryoko home? She isn't feeling very well."

"Yeah, no problem Washu." Kiyone looked back at Ryoko. "Take care."

Ryoko turned away, eyes on the floor.

"Shall we go then?" Washu looked up at her—Ryoko just started walking in response.

"What are the chances that you can undo whatever has happened, Washu?"

"I don't even know what _has_ happened yet."

"I can't believe that you don't have some theory though."

"Well, if it is some kind of temporal displacement, it's just a matter of rectifying the problem before it begins—thus going back in time to the point that it was meddled with and—"

"Yeah, yeah... we've been through that before." Ryoko shook her head. "Let's just hope that you can figure it out."

Washu sat in the center of half a dozen holographic screens, scanning each in turn. Ryoko paced behind her, musing to herself about everything she had been forced to absorb through her morning. "Did you experience anything unusual in the last twelve hours, Ryoko?"

"Other than waking up in an alternate dimension and finding myself displaced from everything that I know?"

"Yeah, other than that."

Ryoko frowned and rubbed her chin. "I woke up from a bad dream last night and I was sleeping with Tenchi... I thought _that_ was all a dream too."

"Really..." Washu said knowingly. "And was there anything about that—caught your attention perhaps?"

"Well... There was the fact that he made it sound like I had nightmares for a while..."

"Maybe we should give you a physical, Ryoko. Maybe the trauma of what happened to Ayeka lapsed your memory somehow—"

"Are you saying that I could have amnesia?"

"It's a possibility. I don't see any disturbance in the space/time continuum and I'm not sure I have another theory at the moment."

"Maybe I'm crazy." Ryoko chuckled wryly. "How do we go about checking my memory?"

"Step around the way there and take a seat. It'll just take a moment to scan ya."

"Great." Ryoko followed the instructions and tried to relax but her body was tense. "When did I marry Tenchi, Washu?"

"It was just before Mayuka came around."

"This is all so ridiculous!" Ryoko shook her head. "Let's get this over with."

Washu tapped the controls and frowned at the readings. "Hmm."

"Hmm?" Ryoko shrugged. "That's all I get is a hmm?"

"It's just strange—I don't understand what could have happened. Your memory seems to be fine."

"Obviously it's not fine though. I don't remember a wedding, I don't remember Ayeka's death... Where's Mayuka for that matter?"

"Everyone voted against my bringing her back..."

"What else could be different? Do I still have a criminal record?"

"Sasami used some influence to get your name cleared—"

"Sasami?" Ryoko's eyes widened. "Okay, so where am I, Washu because this place certainly bares no semblance to home."

Washu sat back in thought, folding her arms. Ryoko mimicked her posture, watching her intently. An indeterminate amount of time passed before Washu snapped her fingers and hopped to her feet. "I've got it!"

"Great!" Ryoko feigned excitement. "What is it?"

"You're in your own subconscious mind."

"Huh?" Ryoko looked at her confused. "What are you on about?"

"In other words, you're dreaming. All of this—even me—is just a dream."

"That's absurd... I mean, how could this possibly be 'just a dream'?"

"Do you have another explanation? You don't remember key events that have happened recently yet there's no memory loss nor damage to your brain."

"So what do I do?"

"Why, wake up of course!"

"You know Washu, I don't know what I'd do without you! Sheesh, you're so helpful!"

"Alright, enough with the sarcasm." Washu pondered. "I'm sure that I can rig something to wake you up in your 'real' world but it will take some time."

"Okay... can I stay here with you?"

"No way." Washu shook her head. "I know how you are and you'd go crazy waiting for me. If you want to hide out, you'll have to find somewhere else to do it."

"Thanks a lot." Ryoko sighed. "Okay, how long before you're done?"

"Couple hours—maybe less."

"I'll talk to you in a couple hours then." Ryoko disappeared.

'_Just a dream huh?_' Ryoko sat on the branch of a tree overlooking a forest of trees gently swaying in the breeze. It was a glorious site, the sun beaming through the clouds was extra bright and the colors were so vibrant. It was as if she saw them for the first time. '_I mean... married to Tenchi? Sure, I'll buy that's a dream of mine but not Ayeka's death. There has to be more to all this..._'

"Ryoko!" She heard a voice off in the distance call her name—it was definitely Tenchi. For the first time that she could remember, she dreaded facing him. Even in a world that potentially didn't exist, she couldn't bring herself to accidentally hurt him with her sketchy memories of the events in this world. "Ryoko, where are you?"

Closing her eyes she knew she couldn't let him worry about her. She pushed off from the branch and flew in the direction of his voice, gliding to a halt above him and levitating slowly to the ground. "I'm here Tenchi."

"Ryoko!" Tenchi took her hand as she landed. "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine, Tenchi."

"Kiyone said that Washu took you home... I wish you would've told me you were going. I would've left with you."

"I just... I needed some time with Washu. I think we needed some mutual consoling." She wondered how many of those quick saves she had in her.

"Oh..." He nodded. "Would you like something to eat? Mihoshi and Kiyone are at the house preparing something."

"I'm not really hungry."

"You've got to eat something."

"I won't starve... I just don't want anything right yet."

"Ryoko, is there something else wrong? Something more than Ayeka?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You seem... I don't' know... confused. Dazed even."

"I didn't sleep very well last night." She shrugged. "I'm just a little weirded out by the whole affair you know? I just can't bring myself to believe that she's dead."

"I know what you mean..." Tenchi looked down. "I miss her a lot."

"I—I somehow feel responsible." If this was indeed her dream world, then her imagination was responsible.

"If we would've listened to you to begin with, none of it would've happened. If we would've acknowledged your concerns about Mayuka right from the start, Sasami would never have been abducted, Ayeka never would've gotten hurt and you and I wouldn't have had to go to that horrible place."

"Yeah... but—"

"Ryoko!" Mihoshi's voice called from the house. Ryoko rubbed her eyes, suddenly wishing for her more anonymous existence back in the real world. "Ryoko, Washu needs to see you!" Now that was a good sign.

"Hmm... Maybe I can do with some food afterall." She offered a weak smile to Tenchi and he leaned forward, kissing her gently on the lips.

"I'm sure you need it." He returned her smile and offered his arm, which she gladly accepted. They walked together back to the house and for the first time since she woke up that morning she felt almost happy.

"It's much worse than I thought." Washu paced in her lab, Ryoko watching her from near the door.

"What's wrong?"

"We have a bigger problem than I initially imagined. You're not asleep in the real world."

"No?"

"No, you're _missing_ from the real world."

"So I'm... I'm _really_ here then?"

"In the flesh I'm afraid."

"How'd you figure this out?"

"When I scanned the space/time continuum, I didn't take into account that this world doesn't work the same as the world that I normally exist in... In fact, it would work only as well as you understand the mechanics of it—after all, everything here is your invention as to how it works or exists in your 'ideal' paradigm."

"I'll go on faith so you don't have to try and explain that better." Ryoko frowned. "So what did you do then?"

"I scanned a different frequency if you will and found that there was a strange break in the temporal world—your entrance into this world."

"So I teleported here?"

"Makes sense to me—if you can teleport anywhere you've been, this has to be an easy connection to make."

"So I should be able to teleport right back then right?"

"Not quite as easy as that. You see, the reason you were able to come fully across to this world instead of just your conscience is because of the fragility of the gateway between the two worlds. The power to make that gateway passable again is going to require power that I simply can't generate on my own."

"What do we have to do then?"

"I don't know yet..." Washu frowned. "But I'm working on it!"

Ryoko ran both her hands through her hair and nodded slowly. "So until you 'figure it out' what should I do?"

"What do you normally do when you dream?" Washu shrugged. "Enjoy yourself!"

"Lord Tenchi!" Ayeka rapped on his bedroom door several times, practically bouncing from panic. "Tenchi, open the door! Ryoko's missing!"

Tenchi stumbled from his bed and opened the door. His hair was disheveled, eyes squinting. "What? Ryoko?"

"She's missing! She's not in her bed."

"Maybe she just went out for a walk or something—you know how she is."

"You don't understand! Sasami saw her disappear! She just vanished—but she was still aslepp!"

Tenchi blinked several times, now wide-awake. "Strange... We need to look for her. I'll get grandpa."

"Kiyone and Mihoshi are already looking and Sasami went to tell Washu."

"Okay, let's meet at the temple in an hour—see what we've found out." He closed his door and pulled on his clothes quickly, his heart throbbing painfully in his chest.

Ayeka was pacing at the top of the stairs of the temple, eyes probing the darkness. An hour of wandering the woods with a flashlight and no sign of Ryoko anywhere. She was the first one to the temple and the inactivity gave her time to stew on her worry.

She wanted to be angry with Ryoko—to think it was just her being fickle and leaving without telling anyone but something inside her told her otherwise. There was a nagging feeling in her chest that they weren't going to find her. "Oh, Ryoko!" She sighed indignantly. "What's going on now?"

"I didn't find anything either." Tenchi walked up beside her, staring into the darkness. "Grandpa's still looking but he suggested that I get you all home."

Mihoshi and Kiyone came up the stairs. "Nothing." Kiyone shook her head. "It's so dark though and if she's hurt—"

Tenchi shook his head. "We'll definitely look again in the morning."

"No reason to," Washu's voice made Ayeka jump as she crept from the shadows behind them. "You won't find her anywhere on the planet."

"Huh? Miss Washu?" Tenchi looked at her oddly. "Where is she then?"

"I'm not sure yet... but I thought that I would come and tell you that there was a shift in the temporal alignment earlier this evening..."


	2. Episode 2: No Need for Comfort

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 2: No Need for Comfort

"Miss Washu, you think that she was taken to a different dimension?" Tenchi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face drawn with concern. Kiyone, Mihoshi and Ayeka surrounded him in a semi circle, all eyes on Washu sitting in the midst of her computers.

"I don't know that she was taken, Tenchi." Washu sighed with a frown. "I guess that's a possibility but—"

"She had to be taken." Ayeka offered. "Sasami saw it happen."

"It's not as simple as that." Washu put her hands behind her head and leaned back in her chair. "I think that Ryoko used her powers and left this world—inadvertently of course."

"How could she do that?" Mihoshi asked. "Doesn't she have to have been at the place before she can teleport there?"

"Yes, there is that limitation..." Washu started.

"Not to mention, how could she do it when she was asleep?" Kiyone interrupted.

"You still breath when you're asleep." Washu shrugged. "Your heart still beats, blood still circulates. Ryoko's powers are just as inherent as any of those things that I just mentioned—maybe even more so. It's like she was sleep walking."

"Okay, so we know how it happened." Tenchi rubbed his chin. "But we still need to know why and where?"

"That shift in the temporal alignment could've been Ryoko's passage between worlds but I doubt it..." Washu tapped some buttons. "No, I think that there's something else here—on Earth. I think that it has something to do with Ryoko and that her body kicked in a sort of self defense system and took her someplace that she was safe. Somewhere that she couldn't be found."

"So you think that whatever is on Earth might be after her?" Ayeka asked, brow furrowed thoughtfully.

"More than a possibility." Washu frowned.

"So how do we go about finding her?" Tenchi asked.

"And what is this thing that is on Earth?" Kiyone looked suddenly very concerned. "Do you think it's a threat to this sector?"

"If it scared Ryoko's instincts to another world, you can bet that it's a threat." Washu hopped out of her chair. "I don't know how to find Ryoko yet nor do I know what the creature is but I'm working on both equations as we speak. For now, I suggest that you all get your rest before you need your strength."

Tenchi shook his head. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do now, Miss Washu?"

"Tenchi, let the poor girl work." Yosho stepped in with a smile. "She'll find Ryoko soon enough."

"But Grandpa..." Tenchi began but there was something in Yosho's eyes that stopped him and he let out a sigh and nodded. "Aright, I'll get some sleep."

"That should go for the rest of you as well." He scanned the girls. "We'll hit this problem in the morning."

Everyone began shuffling out of the room, Ayeka and Tenchi bringing up the rear. "Lord Tenchi," Ayeka put her hand on his shoulder. "Washu will find her if anyone can."

"What if she doesn't?" Tenchi asked quietly. "Then what?"

"She has to." Ayeka smiled gently. "She has a reputation to uphold."

He looked at her and returned the smile with a bit of effort. "You're right, of course." He looked up at the sky through a window before turning to his door. "I'll see you in the morning, Ayeka."

"Sleep well, Lord Tenchi." She watched him go and suddenly felt empty—as if somehow Ryoko's disappearance answered a question that had been left unanswered for so long. '_Don't be foolish girl!_' She scolded herself. '_He would be just as worried if any of us suddenly disappeared in the night_.' As she returned to her room, she just couldn't fight off the feeling that it wasn't necessarily true...

Ryoko dosed on her favorite perch in the rafters, hands behind her, legs crossed. "Where's Ryoko?" Mihoshi asked Kiyone just below her. "I was hoping that she might help me with the mopping."

'_How can they pester me even in my dreams?_' Ryoko thought to herself and sighed. '_They have to realize I'm busy._'

"I'm not sure... I think she's taking a nap. She wasn't feeling very well after Ayeka's funeral."

"Yeah, that's true. Do you think she'll be okay, Kiyone?" Mihoshi sounded altogether too cheerful despite whatever topic she discussed.

"You know Ryoko." Kiyone said. "She always bounces back."

'_Indeed she does._' Ryoko shook her head. '_Those two need a vacation._' She tried to settle back into her nap but loud footsteps from the stairs brought back her to awareness again.

"Ryoko?" Tenchi asked and she could tell he was looking up at where she was lying. With an irritated sigh, she rolled off the rafter and floated to the ground.

"Hey, Tenchi." She regarded him with her head cocked to the side.

"What are you up to?"

"Getting some rest... Didn't sleep too well last night."

"Oh... okay."

"Why, what's up?"

"I thought you might want to go for a walk... get some fresh air?"

Ryoko shrugged and smiled, taking his arm. "Sure, why not?"

"Great." They left the house and started down the path toward the pond. The sun was beaming through light cloud coverage and the birds were noisily chirping. Ryoko looked around and had to be impressed with her subconscious vision of the place. '_Did a great job._'

"What ya thinking about?" Tenchi's voice brought her from her reverie and she turned her attention to him.

"The weather... it's been exceptionally nice as of late."

"Yeah, it's not been too bad." He scanned the area as they arrived at the pond. "It's especially nice here in my opinion."

She knelt by the water and tested it with a finger. "I don't know when I've been so... relaxed."

"Huh?" Tenchi knelt beside her.

"It's just that I... I guess that I'm just not stressed right now."

"What would you be stressed about?"

"A whole lot of things." She stared into the water. "Not worth talking about."

"Hmm." He placed his fingers on her chin and gently turned her head toward him. "Then maybe we shouldn't be talking." He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, eyes closing as they embraced.

Ryoko's body tensed and she couldn't believe what was happening. '_How long have I wanted this?_' Her mind was practically screaming at her. '_It's twice as nice as I thought it would be..._'

She lost track of time in his arms and when she realized where she was, they were lying in front of the pond. She was using Tenchi's bare chest as a pillow and his breathing was rhythmic and calm—he was sound asleep. '_Did we just—_' She couldn't let herself believe it. '_No... There's no way I wouldn't have remembered every detail about that... Right?_' She nuzzled against him and closed her eyes. '_Either way, who cares?_' She got back to the nap she left at the rafters.

Tickling... a bug on her face? She brushed it away, a lock of her hair and tried to find the same depth of sleep she'd left. The wind was picking up, audibly brushing the leaves against the branches. It was chill, her flesh reacted with a shudder and she opened her eyes. '_Come on dream... what's this all about?_' A gasp escaped her lips as she looked at the sky.

Dark clouds were rolling in—ominous and threatening with thin threads of lightning dancing across their mass. She shook Tenchi and he bolted awake.

"What?" He asked in a confused tone, his eyes following her gaze to the sky. "Woe! We have to get out of here." He pulled his shirt on and they were on their feet and hurrying back to the house.

"That's a really strange storm, Tenchi." Ryoko commented, hoping he might fill her in on what her subconscious was creating.

"I know... It reminds me of the storm the night Sasami was taken by Yazuha."

"But a little different..." They arrived at the house and she stopped on the porch. "Like maybe someone's coming through a portal?"

"Maybe we should ask Miss Washu?"

Ryoko nodded. "I need to talk to her anyway."

"It seems that the thing that made Ryoko disappear has arrived." Washu appeared at the door to the dining room and leaned against the wall, gauging everyone's confused reaction before continuing. "And I couldn't tell you exactly what it is."

"How did you find this out?" Tenchi asked, setting down a bowel of rice.

"I was doing some research to see how we could break the barrier of the two worlds and there was more distortion in the temporal alignment... The same kind that I found when we realized that Ryoko was gone, which leads me to believe—"

"That the creature could be from whatever world Ryoko went to?" Ayeka offered and Washu nodded.

"But it's deeper than that." Washu continued. "Again, I still don't necessarily believe that Ryoko's transfer between worlds caused that temporal rift... What if it followed her?"

No one said anything but it was pretty obvious what they were thinking. Tenchi finally pushed himself up and clenched his fists. "Can you track where it went to, Washu?"

"I'm in the process of doing so as we speak..."

"Tenchi..." Ryoko was sitting on the bed watching him in his bathroom. "Tenchi, I have to tell you something."

"What is it dear?" He had to yell over the water and the thunder outside. The storm was getting worse as the night went on.

"Tenchi... I'm not... I'm not from this world."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "Do I have to make a sarcastic comment about that?"

"It's the truth, Tenchi." She slapped her knees. "Washu is working on getting me back... to reality."

Tenchi chuckled and came out of the bathroom. "What are you talking about? Reality?"

"This is all my... my dream world, my conscience. It has nothing to do with the real world."

"So... you're asleep somewhere? In some other world?" He tilted his head curiously.

"Well, no... not exactly. Apparently, I teleported here."

"Oh sure." He smiled. "Quit kidding around, Ryoko."

"Damn it, Tenchi! I'm telling you the truth!" She hopped to her feet and opened the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To see what Washu has come up with on my getting back. This isn't supposed to be." She closed the door behind her but heard Tenchi hot on her heels.

"Wait!" He opened the door. "What's wrong? Where did all this come from?"

"Tenchi, why can't you understand that I'm not fooling around? I'm not kidding!"

"But..." He looked flustered. "Let me come with you to see Miss Washu."

"I'd rather you didn't." She bit her lip as she proceeded down the stairs, catching a tear before it got to her cheek.

Washu looked at her oddly and shrugged. "I'm afraid we have a problem, Ryoko."

"What's that?" Ryoko asked as she closed the door behind her.

"Apparently, whatever you were fleeing from has pursued you here." Washu looked up at a monitor. "And I can't even begin to tell you what it is."

"It's _pursued_ me?" Ryoko's eyes widened. "Do you know where it's from?"

"According to my readings, it's from here. It's an original inhabitant."

"You're kidding." Ryoko paced. "It's a creature from... my dreams?"

"From the world your dreams invented."

Ryoko was starting to lose her temper. "Washu, tell me everything now... I'm tired of these games. What do you mean? That this place is real?"

"Yeah, it's very real."

"You could've told me that in the beginning!" Ryoko glared at her. "I've been treating it like it's nothing but an illusion!"

"Even had you left physically, you had to realize that you'd return spiritually eventually."

"I'm afraid that I had other things on my mind actually." Ryoko tapped her thigh as she paced. "So what do I do? Face this thing? Is it out to kill me? What's the score?"

"I think that's what we need to dedicate our efforts to finding out."

"Is it time to bring the others in on this?" Ryoko looked at Washu. "I tried to tell Tenchi but he wouldn't believe. With your help, maybe he would. Then we can prepare everyone—especially if this place is real."

Washu left to collect everyone and Ryoko sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she hugged them and rocked in thought. '_Okay whatever you are... I'll be ready. Lord help you when you find me._'

"Okay everyone, listen up." Washu sat in her chair in the lab and pointed at a monitor. "I've tracked Ryoko to an obscure dimension in time/space... For ease of explanation, Ryoko has transported herself into a world created by her dreams."

There were random gasps from everyone. "How can that be?" Ayeka asked first.

"Very simple really." Washu shrugged. "Time and space can be manipulated by the mind very easily. All it takes is the will to do so and the desire to make the change. All of us have created a world like this—a world that we spend each night in. Ryoko just had the benefit of moving herself to hers when she was in trouble—quite accidentally I'm sure."

"So she's in a... a dream?" Tenchi asked.

"Oh how cool!" Mihoshi clapped her hands together. Kiyone gave her an exasperated look.

"Not exactly, Tenchi." Washu looked back at the monitor. "At one time, our dreams were just that—ideas by definition. But the more time we spend in them, the more real they become."

"It figures that Ryoko's would be powerful enough to let her dwell there." Ayeka muttered. "She sleeps more than anyone."

"How do we get there, Washu?" Kiyone asked.

"That's the tricky part. I've developed a machine that could penetrate the barrier and send someone through... but it could be dangerous."

"When hasn't it been?" Tenchi asked.

"It's just that... I don't know what sort of rules Ryoko's world might have. It could be incredibly dangerous."

"So what do you propose then, leaving her there?" Ayeka asked.

"Of course not." Washu smiled. "I'm much too prepared for such a minor inconvenience." She waved behind her. "Instead of sending someone to this dimension with their body, I've rigged a machine that will let them go with their mind... Just like as if you were dreaming but you'll be aware of your actions and be able to control it... like a state of lucidity."

"That's great, Washu!" Tenchi smiled.

"When do we go?" Ayeka asked.

"It'll just take an hour to set it up for transport... get yourselves ready." Washu turned away and Tenchi nodded to the others before leaving the room.

"I need to inform Grandpa." He said to Ayeka before heading outside and she turned to Kiyone.

"Will you be coming with us?"

"I'd like to help Ryoko." Kiyone looked at Mihoshi. "What about you?"

"If you're going, I'm going, Kiyone." Mihoshi smiled.

"We'll meet you back here in an hour, Ayeka." The three parted ways to prepare for the journey ahead.


	3. Episode 3: No Need for Waiting

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 3: No Need for Waiting

Tenchi opened the door to the lab and stepped in, head bowed. "Miss Washu?" His voice was quiet but filled with resolve.

"Hey Tenchi." Washu looked at the clock. "You're a little early aren't you?"

"I want you to send me now... without the others."

"Without the others-- Why?"

"They don't all need to try something so dangerous... Let me go through first and ascertain that it's safe. Then, we can send them through."

"But Tenchi—"

"Washu, please... Ryoko's already in trouble. Just let me try."

Washu frowned in thought, finger and thumb rubbing her chin. "This is against my better judgment but... alright."

Tenchi smiled at her. "Thanks Washu."

"Just sit down before I change my mind." She started to tap at several panels as he took a seat beneath a huge cylinder with a gigantic ruby in the hole. "Ready?" She asked, her hand hovering over a blue button.

He nodded once and braced himself as she pressed the button. A red light covered him and his eyes involuntarily closed. A numbing sensation began in his feet and floated up through the rest of his body—he became weightless and drowsy. He felt his consciousness fading... light appeared before him, somewhere off to the right and then...

"Tenchi are you listening to me?" Ryoko sighed and folded her arms over her chest.

"Huh?" He asked confusion setting in.

"Have you listened to a word I told you?"

"Ryoko?" He looked around at his bedroom. "What.... Oh! I made it through!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryoko tilted her head.

"Ryoko! I came to find you! Washu made a device to send me to this dimension! It worked apparently!"

"You mean... you're the real Tenchi?" She asked hopefully.

"The real... well, yeah of course I am"

"Tenchi, this place it's... it's straight from my dreams and there's people here—versions of everyone I know apparently—which includes some creature that's looking for me."

"Yeah, Miss Washu figured some of it out. We need to get you out of here."

"We don't know how to yet. I can't teleport out, I've tried. Washu thought that I might have been able to do it because the gateway was opened for me, that the veil between the real world and this one was thin enough for me to breach."

Tenchi nodded. "Okay, we have to figure out how to get out of here soon... The others will be here soon so we'll at least have some help."

"The others are coming through too?"

"Yeah, probably in the next half hour or so."

"Wait a minute." Ryoko looked out the window in thought. "When you came through here, you took over the body of the Tenchi on this world... if everyone does that, then we've got a problem..."

"What's that?"

"Ayeka's dead here."

"What?" Tenchi vaulted to his feet. "We've got to talk to Washu! Maybe the Washu on this world can find a way to communicate with the Wasu on our world."

"This is going to get confusing really fast isn't it?" Ryoko sighed and nodded. "Let's hurry."

Tenchi touched the door and the window exploded, glass shards breaking against the wall as they both turned to see a thick smoke pour into the room. A figure emerged, floating above the ground. Wearing a black cowl, the cloth billowed with the wind as a beam of purple light exploded from one of the hands and formed a sword.

"Yosho!" Washu ran out of her lab and stopped at the foot of the stairs. "Anyone! We've got a major problem!!"

"What's wrong, Washu?" Kiyone was the first one at the top of the stairs.

"It's Tenchi... He went through early and now... well, the machine it sort of... well, it sort of broke."

"And?"

"And Tenchi was sent through already... I can't get him back until it's repaired."

"Oh no." Kiyone started down the stairs slowly and Ayeka was the next to be filled in on what happened.

"What about Lord Tenchi's body?"

"It's fine... I've got him on support til he gets back for it."

"And we can't send anyone else through?"

"Not at this time."

"Why did you send him through without anyone else?" Ayeka folded her arms over her chest, looking irritated. "He could be in real trouble!"

"He asked me to. He wanted to make sure that it was safe. Obviously, it wasn't. He knew the risk."

"How did it 'break' anyway?"

"The gem used to power the device exploded... I pumped too much energy through it."

"Everyone needs to relax." Yosho stepped in from outside. "Tenchi will be fine. Let's just get about getting the machine repaired and being prepared to help out when the time comes to do so." He walked into the kitchen with three pairs of eyes staring at him.

"That man is so odd." Kiyone stated before turning back to Washu. "Okay, so what's the ETA on fixing the machine?"

"Not sure... Couple hours, maybe more."

"Okay, we'll be on hand if you need anything." Kiyone disappeared into the hallway.

"I'll wait with you while you fix it." Ayeka followed Washu back to the lab.

"What the hell?" Ryoko called above the racket.

"Glad I could find you." A thousand voices spoke from the figure in varying pitch from child to adult, woman to man. "I've been waiting a long time."

"Who the hell are you?" Ryoko balled her fist and prepared for conflict but she was trembling. '_What's my problem?_'

"You know full well who I am... You fled once but you won't get away again."

"I won't let you hurt her!" Tenchi stepped in front of Ryoko and postured before the figure.

"You have no power over me my friend... You're not even the real Tenchi."

"So you think." Tenchi clasped his hands and the light hawk sword exploded to life.

"Juraian scum... I don't know how you arrived here but I'll destroy you just the same."

"I'm not going to run this time, whatever you are." Ryoko held her hand out and her own sword appeared. "Bring it on."

It darted to the left of the room, on Tenchi's side taking a high swipe with the sword. Tenchi parried the attack and kicked toward its chest but it floated back and made a dive at Ryoko.

Ryoko disappeared, teleporting behind the thing and swiping at its side. Her sword passed completely through the being, destroying the cowl and severing the body in half. "You weren't so tough." She floated back to watch, her eyes widening as the part she removed began to glow and reconnected to the upper half.

"Really, Ryoko you'll have to do much better than that." It spun and hacked at her head but she ducked out of the way. Tenchi plunged the light hawk sword into its back and it spun, throwing him across the room and into the wall. "I told you that I'd finish you both!" The voice boomed through the house, shaking the foundation.

Ryoko looked at Tenchi then back to the creature. "What about these?" She hurled a ball of light, engulfing the thing in the attack. It let forth a howl as she hurried over to Tenchi and picked him up. "I think we should go now." She carried him through the window and into the rain, flying as fast as she could, leaving the creatures screams behind them.

They had Tenchi lying on a bed, a blanket pulled up to his chin. Ayeka sat beside him, staring at him with a frown. "How long Washu?" She asked for probably the fiftieth time.

"The same time that I told you last time." Washu called from under the machine. "When I'm finished, you'll be the first to know."

"Oh Tenchi..." Ayeka sighed, taking his hand. "You should've waited for us. Please be okay."

"I don't know that we should send someone else through when I finish this thing—rather, we should use it to contact them and get them to come back through. If I can punch a hole in the veil that keeps the two worlds a part, then I think that Ryoko could find her way through."

"Just hurry up with it, Washu!"

"It's done, Ayeka." Washu hopped into her chair and tapped several buttons. "Tell Yosho and the others. We'll make contact in just a moment."

Ayeka nodded and hurried out the door, yelling for everyone to come quickly. Washu paused as everyone poured into the room and tapped the last button. "Watch your eyes everyone!" She called out as the new ruby began to glow brightly. A rectangle appeared in the middle of the room and a vision of a storm appeared in the center. Ryoko was flying and she was carrying Tenchi with her.

"Tenchi!" Ayeka cried. Ryoko responded to her voice, looking up.

"Hey everyone!" Her tone was obviously relieved. "Please tell me that's our way out?"

"We've pierced the veil, Ryoko." Washu called. "Teleport back... but focus, you've got to help Tenchi too."

"No problem." They watched as she slowed to a halt, their bodies beginning to glow.

"Ryoko watch out!" Tenchi yelled. As they disappeared from the screen, a purple beam swept the area they occupied moments before. Washu tapped a button quickly and the ruby went dead, the image faded as two wicked red eyes looked up and into the lab.

Tenchi sat up from the bed and looked around with a moan. "That was... that was amazing."

"Are you okay Tenchi?" Mihoshi asked, peering from behind Kiyone.

"Yeah, I... I think so." Tenchi looked around. "Where's Ryoko?"

"She didn't appear in here." Washu looked around.

"I'll check upstairs." Kiyone turned to leave.

"Oh, Lord Tenchi..." Ayeka took his hand. "I'm glad you're alright."

Tenchi pushed himself up and held his head. "Just a little head ache..."

"You might need some rest, Tenchi." Washu got out of her chair. "What was that thing that was chasing you?"

"I really don't know... It... it attacked Ryoko and I in the house. We couldn't beat it." Tenchi shook his head. "Ryoko cut it in half and it... just reformed."

Random gasps sounded in the room.

"What could it be, Washu?" Ayeka turned to her.

"Something immensely powerful apparently." Washu frowned.

"That's a statement I'd expect to hear out of Mihoshi." Ryoko stood at the door, her head bowed. "Maybe you can tell us something we don't know, Washu?"

"Ryoko!" Mihoshi turned.

"Yeah, I'm back."

"Are you okay?" Tenchi took a step toward her and stopped, leaning against the wall to keep from falling.

"I think I'm fine." Ryoko ran a hand through her hair. "We need to talk about what that thing is... I don't think it's done yet."

"Did it give you any clue as to what it might be? By appearance or statement?"

"Only that I should know what it was." Ryoko scratched her chin. "Did you notice anything Tenchi?"

"It's voice... It was like a thousand people speaking at once." Tenchi shrugged. "Its sword reminded me of the light hawk sword in a way... I got a similar impression from it."

"Yeah?" Washu shook her head. "Here's what we know: It is from a world based on Ryoko's dreams. Further, it's just as real as that world is now—in that it has the same powers that were devised when it was just a thought only now they are actually effective. My surmise is that it's a nightmare that has become corporeal."

"A nightmare?" Ryoko frowned. "That would explain why I'm so... so afraid of it."

"Of course, your mind invented it to be scary to you. It needed something very powerful to do that though—it couldn't be any old monster. It had to be a real nasty one." Washu sat back down.

"It figures that Ryoko would have dreams that were more vile than normal people's." Ayeka crossed her arms.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, Ayeka?" Ryoko took a step toward her.

"Now's not the time for fighting you two." Tenchi stepped in between them.

"Tenchi's right." Washu looked at her machine. "Indeed, that thing will be coming back for Ryoko soon..."

"When?" Ayeka, Tenchi and Ryoko asked at the same time.

"There's no way to tell for sure... I should be able to give us some warning though now that I recognize the signature its travel creates in the temporal alignment."

"What do we do til then?" Mihoshi asked quietly.

Washu looked at everyone in turn and cracked a smile. "Why, wait of course." She shrugged and kicked back on the chair. "It's not through yet."

Ryoko sat in a full lotus on the porch, eyes staring off in the distance. Ayeka paused at the door and watched her for a moment, taking a deep breath before clearing her throat and stepping out.

"Ryoko?" She asked.

"What is it, Ayeka?" Ryoko's voice was even and calm.

"I... I wanted to talk to you about something."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Ayeka frowned. '_Why does she have to be so infuriating?_' She pushed the thought out of her head. "Tenchi told me a little about the... your dream world."

Ryoko sighed.

"He said that I was... well, that I was."

"Dead?" Ryoko paused. "Yes, somehow you were dead there. The events surrounding when Sasami was taken by Yazuha happened differently and you were killed."

Ayeka looked down. "I got the impression that you were... well, that you were concerned about it."

"We may have our differences but I don't want to see you die."

"I'm... touched by that, Ryoko."

"A criminal doesn't have to be callous, Ayeka." Ryoko turned this time and Ayeka barely held back a gasp. Dark circles hugged her eyes and her cheeks were sunk a bit. She looked exhausted.

"Ryoko, are you alright?" Ayeka knelt beside her, concern etched on her expression.

"I'm fine, Ayeka." Ryoko frowned. "You know how I feel about that concern stuff."

"But Ryoko... Have you slept?"

"Not since Tenchi and I got back from the other world."

"But Ryoko, that was three days ago now!"

"Really?" Ryoko looked back over the yard, her tone distant. "I hadn't noticed."

"You need to get some sleep!"

"No thanks." Ryoko shook her head. "Last place I want to go is back to that world where—where it's waiting." A genuine amount of fear entered her tone—something Ayeka was completely unfamiliar with.

"Ryoko... If it comes through to _this_ world, you won't be able to face it in your current state..."

"And I can't handle it in that world either—it has complete control there."

Ayeka snapped her fingers. "But of course!"

"Huh?" Ryoko looked at her oddly.

"You should have the same control over that world! I mean, you invented it didn't you?"

"What are you getting on about?" Ryoko shook her head.

"Don't you see? It's your dream! You made that place up. You should have power over the entire world there."

"Huh..." Ryoko thought a moment. "That could very well be true but when you normally sleep, you don't have control over your dreams."

"It's not hard to be aware of your dreaming. It just takes a bit of practice."

"The time for practice is over. A mistake now can be fatal."

"You did it once now though—went to the world."

"Yeah but I'd have to do that with Washu's help..."

"Exactly." Ayeka smiled.

"You're proposing I have Washu send me back to that world only consciously and face it?"

"I hadn't thought of that but maybe you should choose the tactic that suits you best: go on the offensive."

Ryoko pushed herself up and smiled at Ayeka. "I never thought I'd agree with any of the hair brained schemes you come up with but for once you really put it together—that or I'm just so tired it _seems_ like a good idea."

Ayeka frowned. "You're incorrigible."

Ryoko grinned as she passed into the house.


	4. Episode 4: No Need for Imitation

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 4: No Need for Imitation

She stood perfectly still in a cat stance, her hands open in a guard. Her eyes were focused and unblinking staring out over the leading fingertips. Moving gracefully and slow, her arms swept down and she crouched, arms going out and up into eagle's wings. A light breeze lifted her hair and as she started to rise, footsteps from behind made her ear twitch.

"Ryoko?" It was Tenchi. "Ryoko, are you okay?"

Ryoko turned and put her hands behind her back clasping them together to stop them from shaking. "Hi Tenchi." She managed a weak smile. "I'm fine."

"Lunch is ready if you're hungry."

She wrinkled her nose. "No thanks."

"Ryoko, you've got to eat." Tenchi furrowed his brow. "You're usually always starving." He put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "It's been almost a week since we left that place. When was the last time you slept?"

"I don't remember." Ryoko shrugged and quickly continued as she noticed his disapproving expression. "There's been the moments of oblivion during the day... sort of day dreaming I guess."

"You're going to get sick."

"I'm not ready to face that thing yet, Tenchi!" Ryoko's eyes widened. "I'm not ready!"

"You'll never be ready at this rate."

"What are you two up to?" Sasami came skipping up with Ryo-ohki close behind. "Lunch is ready!"

Tenchi looked at Sasami and frowned. "Sorry, Sasami. We're just chatting."

"Well hurry up before it gets cold!" She paused. "Ryoko?"

"Yes, Sasami?"

"Nothing... I'll see you inside." Sasami turned and jogged back toward the house and Ryoko leaned against a tree.

"Tenchi, it's not just... that thing that's been bothering me."

"Oh?" Tenchi tilted his head. "What then?"

"I... I just don't... I don't know... how to say it."

Tenchi shrugged. "Relax Ryoko. You can tell me anything. You know that."

"When I woke up in my dream... I swore that I _was_ still dreaming what with lying next to you in bed." She closed her eyes. "Then to wake up in the morning to find out that we were married, that Ayeka was dead... I'm full of mixed feelings.

"You know how I feel about you, Tenchi. It's no secret. But—"

"But?"

"For the short period of time that I was with you like that, it's difficult to think of you any other way."

Tenchi took her on either shoulder and peered into her eyes. "I understand completely, Ryoko." He smiled. "You know how I feel about you I'm sure."

She tilted her head slowly, her body trembling to his touch. "Tell me?" She whispered.

"I love you, Ryoko." He pressed his lips against hers, embracing her as they became more passionate. He lifted her into his arms and began to lay her down. She felt weightless almost like she was flying without control. It seemed like eternity while he lowered her and they kissed the whole way down. Moments before she should've touched the ground, she opened her eyes and peered up at Tenchi, smiling from the elation in her heart.

As she touched the ground however, a dread filled her heart and darkness surrounded Tenchi who was just staring at her oddly. She looked around and tried to sit up but was held down. Looking up, she frowned. "Tenchi, let me up."

"Why?" His voice took on an otherworldly tone to it, almost inhuman in its nonchalance. "Don't you _want_ this Ryoko?"

"What—"She interrupted herself as Tenchi's face contorted and grew black. It morphed into shadow, the eyes turning red. She screamed and struggled, feeling a sharp slap on her cheek.

"Ryoko! Wake up!" It was Tenchi's voice this time filled with panic. "You're dreaming!"

She looked around fearfully. She was in her bedroom and Ayeka was kneeling nearby. She pulled away from Tenchi and wiped a tear from her cheek. "Are you okay, Ryoko?" Ayeka leaned to look at her face.

"When did I go to sleep?"

"Probably nine hours or so ago." Tenchi rubbed his chin. "You were in the yard asleep."

"I passed out?"

"Apparently."

Ryoko got to her feet and walked to the window, leaning on the sill and peering out. "At least I feel better." She muttered.

"Did you try to fight it, Ryoko?" Ayeka asked.

"I honestly didn't even know that I was dreaming. Thank you both for staying with me."

"We thought you might be sick when we brought you in." Tenchi nodded toward a tray. "Are you hungry? We brought up some fruit for when you woke up."

The door opened and Washu stepped inside with a hop. "Good! You're awake!"

Ryoko looked at her oddly before taking an apple from the tray. "Nice to see you too, Washu."

"Miss Washu, what's up?" Tenchi asked.

"Kiyone got a contact from the GP. It seems that someone liked your piracy MO."

Ryoko frowned. "Great."

"You mean that someone's attacking shipping?" Ayeka asked.

"Jarain freight specifically." Washu pawed through the fruit on the tray and settled on a pear, which she snatched up. "Seems to be taking everything on board and not leaving any survivors."

"That's not my MO." Ryoko glared at Washu. "I didn't kill like that."

"The MO of attack, ship description and powers used to infiltrate are all the same as when you were an active criminal."

"Let me guess: they think it's me." Ryoko sighed.

"Yeah, pretty much." Washu took a bite of her pear and looked up in thought. "I thought you'd all want to hear it because the attacks are happening near the sol sector and Mihoshi and Kiyone are investigating the crime. Just between us, I don't know if they're going to be a match for whatever they're after."

"I definitely would like to help." Ayeka got up. "I feel an obligation if they're attacking my families shipping."

"I'll do what I can too." Tenchi nodded to Washu.

"I'd like to meet up with the bastard who's trying to sully my name." Ryoko clenched her free hand to a fist. "So when do we go?"

"They've already gone I'm afraid. You'll have to use Ryo-ohki to catch up with them."

"Not a problem." Ryoko tossed her apple aside. "Be ready to go in a half hour guys."

Tenchi stared out the view screen at the glowing thrusters of the Galaxy Police vessel that Kiyone and Mihoshi were piloting. They had them in view for over twenty minutes but couldn't raise them on communications. Ryoko was frowning at the edge of the view screen, looking down. Ayeka was seated with her hands folded in her lap.

"I don't like it." Ryoko finally broke the silence they'd basked in for several minutes. "Something is jamming our communications."

"That doesn't come up though, Ryoko." Ayeka cast a glance over at a screen. "The com station says its all clear."

"Attention unidentified space craft." It was Kiyone breaking through on their hailing frequency. "This is the Galaxy Police. Shut off your engines and prepare to be boarded immediately."

"Try and respond, Ayeka." Ryoko didn't look back and as much as Ayeka wanted to snap off a snappy come back, the situation warranted a bit of patience with being ordered around.

"Kiyone, this is Ayeka. Can you read me?"

Static.

"See what I mean, Ayeka?" Ryoko frowned. "We're not going to be able to respond but at least we can do as they ask." The engines were cut and they waited as the other vessel approached and began boarding procedures.

A few moments passed and Ryoko started back to the airlock when a concussion blast rocked the ship and almost tossed her to the floor. "What the hell?" She cursed, running back to the bridge. "What happened?"

"Someone fired on Kiyone!" Tenchi pointed at the view screen and they could see the blackened blast on the side of their friend's ship as it moved away from Ryo-ohki.

"Great." Ryoko performed a scan of the area and slapped her hand on the panel. "No readings of anyone but us and Kiyone. But it's nearby..."

"Do you think that it might be—" Ayeka stopped herself and paled noticeably.

"It's more than a distinct possibility, Ayeka." Ryoko sighed. "We've got to get out of here and quick. They'll fire on us next in retaliation and I'm not about to engage them over a misunderstanding."

"Can you out run them?" Tenchi gave her a concerned glance.

She smiled. "Can Ayeka complain?"

"Wha?" Ayeka stamped her foot as Ryoko took the helm. "You insolent... pig!"

"Wow, Ayeka that was good." Ryoko spun the ship around and advanced the thrusters to full. "Got anymore under that pristine exterior of yours?"

"Now's not the time for this you two!" Tenchi looked between them and shook his head.

"We're heading for home." Ryoko pursed her lips. "This is the first time I'm hoping that Kiyone makes a mistake."

"Considering what's on the line, I think that's a pretty safe hope." Tenchi was holding on to a panel, watching the view screen intently.

"Look!" Ayeka cried as a blast erupted from what seemed like their ship in Kiyone and Mihoshi's direction.

"That's not from us! What the hell is going on?" Ryoko cried and tried to turn up the acceleration, pushing the ship past the safety point.

"Maybe whatever it is that's attacking the freight lines is paralleling us right now and taking shots."

"They'd see the other ship wouldn't they?" Ayeka asked.

"Not if it was cloaked." Ryoko frowned. "And there's no reason for them to believe that we're on our way. I'm sure that Washu's communication was garbled to them just like ours."

"They're gaining on us, Ryoko!" Tenchi yelled and pointed.

"No kidding, Tenchi?" She asked sarcastically while trying a variety of tricky maneuvers to evade them. "I can't shake them."

"What can we do?" Ayeka looked on the verge of panic.

"I'm going to get over to their ship." Ryoko brought the throttle back and let them close in a bit. They were firing on Ryo-ohki now and coming extremely close to hitting several times. "You've got the helm Tenchi."

Tenchi nodded to her and took the controls, glancing back as she stared at the view screen. "Be careful, Ryoko."

"Always am." She flashed a grin and disappeared.

"She's such a show off!" Ayeka frowned and folded her arms over her chest indignantly.

"She could be saving our lives, Ayeka."

"Oh, Lord Tenchi this wouldn't even be happening if she wasn't such a bad seed."

He frowned but there was little he could offer in her defense. So many times she had put other people's lives before her own, shown dignity, courage, integrity, concern. But there was also the mean streak—the temper, the violence. She _was_ a space pirate after all...

Ryoko appeared behind Mihoshi and Kiyone and took a deep breath. "Hey you two!" She cried, getting ready to shift out of range of a blaster bolt. "What are you doing?"

"Ryoko?" Kiyone turned around and stared at her oddly. "What are you doing here? How'd you get here?"

"You two are firing on Ryo-ohki. Ayeka and Tenchi are on board."

"What?" Mihoshi asked. "How could you have gotten out here? You're back on Earth!"

"You keep telling yourself that Mihoshi." Ryoko looked at Kiyone. "Whatever fired on you is cloaked and near Ryo-ohki. I don't know how we're going to find it but it's around here somewhere."

"Hmm... We were reading some pretty outrageous power readings. We thought they were coming from your ship—that's why we didn't think it was Ryo-ohki and was our imposter."

Ryoko nodded. "Well, can you isolate the energy surge? That might give us a target to fire on."

"Good idea, Ryoko." Kiyone tapped at the controls and patted Mihoshi on the arm. "Get ready to feed these coordinates into the weapons systems."

Ryoko leaned against the wall, suddenly dizzy. She put her head in her hand and tried to take long, deep breaths. "Got it targeted, Kiyone!" Mihoshi shouted triumphantly.

"Okay, get ready to fire on my mark." Kiyone turned around. "Ryoko, can you—Ryoko, are you okay?"

Ryoko looked up and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. What's up?"

"Can you hop over to Ryo-ohki and execute a dive and spin? Put the engines on full and get as far away from the surge as you can. We'll fire as soon as you're out of harm's way."

"Sounds good, Kiyone. Thanks." Ryoko concentrated a moment. "Good luck." She muttered as she disappeared from their bridge.

Ryoko stepped up to Tenchi and took the controls, offering a nod in apology for startling him. Questions came from both of her companions but she didn't hear a word they said. She tapped the controls and sent the ship into a dive, spiraling hopefully away from the thing that was firing on Mihoshi and Kiyone.

"What are you doing?" Tenchi's voice finally pierced the fog in her mind and she looked at him oddly.

"What are you talking about?" She frowned. "I'm getting us away from a potential explosion!"

"You're diving right toward the moon!" Tenchi pointed and her eyes widened with surprise as she pulled up and away barely in time to avoid crashing.

"What the hell?" Ryoko looked at Tenchi and Ayeka. "What happened? How'd we get so close to Earth?"

"Ryoko, we've been running from Kiyone and Mihoshi for almost a half hour!"

"No..." She shook her head. "No! I went over to their ship! We made a plan to attack whatever it is that was attacking them... What happened?"

"Ryoko, maybe you should take a rest." Tenchi put his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.

"Damn it, Tenchi! I was on their ship! I know that I'm not crazy!"

"Maybe you were having another dream, Ryoko." Ayeka said gently. "You were looking a little confused for a moment there—disoriented."

Ryoko paced away and balled her fists tightly, leaning her forehead against the wall. "What's happening to me!" She muttered through clenched teeth. "Am I going crazy?"

"We'll take over from here, Ryoko." Tenchi looked at Ayeka. "Can you reach Miss Washu yet, Ayeka?"

"I'll try Tenchi." Their voices once again blurred into a buzzing of sound and Ryoko scanned the room suspiciously.

'_Whatever you try, Ryoko... Where ever you go... However you try it... I'll always win._' The voice she heard was all about her, deep and resonant with an echo. It brought a chill to her spine and she trembled. '_You're soul will be mine... forever._'

She let her instincts react for her. With an enraged scream she brought her sword into existence and stumbled about in the dark, scanning for a victim. "Where the hell are you?" She screamed. "Enough games! Prove yourself! Prove what you can do damn it! Maybe you're not as tough as you thought! C'mon!"

Laughter echoed in her head and dropped to her knees, both hands slapping against her temples. "Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!!!" She screamed, trying desperately to silence the wicked mockery that filled her senses. Blackness fell over her eyes and she slumped to her side in frustration. "You... won't... get... me... so... easily..."


	5. Episode 5: No need for Identity

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 5: No need for Identity

She was blanketed in light. Bright and white, it was almost as substantial as a wool blanket wrapped loosely about her. Her eyes were closed and the brightness was still too much for her to bear. She clenched her eyes tighter, raised her hands to shield them but it didn't help. It was then that she noticed the silence...

Like sitting in the dark alone, she could barely make out her heart throbbing in her chest. She opened her mouth to break the thick noiseless wall around her but nothing came out. She panicked. Rolling on her stomach, she pressed up from the hard floor and ventured to open her eyes, screaming soundlessly as the pain of the light burrowed into her skull. Slumping against a wall she didn't know was there, she tried to regroup.

'_Okay Ryoko, where are you?_' She asked herself. '_Take a deep breath..._'

Complying with her order, she pushed off the wall and started forward with her hands out, groping for obstacles but finding none. A sound of running water made her ear twitch almost painfully the change was so dramatic.

Rushing toward her from the right, she turned her back to it and tried to run but it overwhelmed her in an instant. Submerging her flailing form, she thrashed to swim to the surface but the light was still present and her equilibrium was non-existent. There was no way to know if she was swimming to the surface or deeper into the water.

Her lungs burned as she forced her body into activity. Better to die trying than to float to the end... She clenched her teeth as the sensation grew from uncomfortable to painful to unbearable. A convulsion wracked her body and she fought with every ounce of her will to not inhale. '_Prolonging the inevitable._' A peaceful side of her mind told her. '_It'll be over very soon..._'

As suddenly as the water should've rushed into her lungs she fell from the light and landed on something hard, her body gasping for air and receiving it quickly. Weakened from the ordeal, she remained on her side and panted, occasionally coughing on the water that was plastered to her face.

Ryoko had no idea how long she had been on the ground before she opened her eyes and took in the area. Ambient light spilled from an unseen inlet overhead. She was in a tunnel that vaguely resembled an ancient sewer. The walls were moist and glistened green from an eerie yellow glow. She managed to take her feet and began stumbling down the hall, using the curved wall to hold her balance as she went.

"Tenchi! They're firing again!" Ayeka cried and Tenchi looked up from the prone Ryoko with a sigh.

"Ryo-Ohki offer up a surrender signal." Tenchi looked at Ayeka. "Maybe we can get them to come to us if we can't go to them."

Ayeka nodded but her face betrayed the nervous tension that washed through her. "I hope that they don't think it's a trap."

"A chance we'll have to take." Tenchi's face was set in a stern expression as he watched the view screen intently. "This is going to be close."

Ryo-Ohki shook with a direct hit and Tenchi rushed over to steady Ayeka. A blue field surrounded them and the ship slowed to a halt. "Open the air lock Ryo-Ohki. Let them in." Tenchi helped Ayeka up and walked over to the door.

It hissed open and he could see Mihoshi and Kiyone armored up with rifles. "Mihoshi! It's Tenchi!"

"Oh no!" Mihoshi cried in a voice made metallic by her helmet. "Tenchi's the pirate!"

"Mihoshi, you bubble headed idiot!" Ayeka cried. "We came out to help you! Our communications have been down!"

"Why did you fire on us?" Kiyone asked as she stepped aboard and lowered her weapon.

"We didn't!" Tenchi cried and looked back at the view screen. "Someone else was shadowing us and taking shots at you."

"Wait," Ayeka shook her head. "Whoever's doing it is probably still nearby."

"Right." Kiyone looked at Mihoshi. "Get back to the ship and keep an eye on the scanners. I'll stay here and we'll try to get the comm. back online."

"Okay Kiyone!" Mihoshi giggled and rushed back through the airlock.

"Something's wrong with Ryoko." Tenchi frowned and motioned back to her lying on the ground. "We have to get her to Washu as soon as possible."

"First thing's first, Tenchi." Kiyone looked at Ayeka. "Will you two be able to handle the ship while I try to fix the comm.?"

"Sure." Ayeka rolled her eyes at Kiyone. "Why not?"

Kiyone dropped down and began to examine the communications console with a frown. "This isn't broken." She murmured. "It's been shut down. There's no power getting to it."

"What are you saying?" Tenchi asked.

"I'm saying that someone had to turn it off for it to not work... I can't imagine anyone getting this close to Ryo-Ohki while you were all on board unless it was Ryoko."

"She was acting very oddly." Ayeka frowned. "Why would she do it though?"

"She's obviously not herself." Tenchi clenched his fist. "I know that whatever's out there has something to do with this... When I find him, I'm going to—"

The ship shook with a blast and Mihoshi's voice broke over Kiyone's communicator. "Kiyone! They targeted the boarding ramp! What do we do?"

"Calm down, Mihoshi." Kiyone looked down at the console and tapped at the controls bringing the view screen online with a red tactical grid overlay. "Look sharp... The only way that I can imagine they're hiding like this is with some kind of cloaking device."

Ayeka squinted at the screen, unaware of Tenchi mimicking her expression not a foot to her side. "There!" They cried in unison, pointing toward the top of the screen.

"Got it." Kiyone lifted her communicator. "Mihoshi, get ready to target an explosion." She tapped a few more of Ryo-Ohki's controls and several beams shot out and connected with something causing a bubble of red and orange.

More blasts followed from both the Galaxy Police vessel and Ryo-Ohki, bringing the enemy ship out of cloak. There was a collective gasp as they all realized what ship materialized before them—a combination of surprise and amazement mixed with a bit of fear. It was the Soja.

Sasami dropped to her knees before Tsunami and tried to catch her breath, both her hands pressed to her chest. She had run from the house as fast as she could after a nightmare, seeking the solace of something that always provided her with comfort in the absence of her sister. Looking up at the great tree, she sighed in relief as a sensation of safety overcame her.

She had been worried about Ayeka and Tenchi all day and up to going to bed. A dreadful feeling had been dominating her thoughts that whatever was out there was drawing out her friends and leading them to a trap. Such premonitions were uncommon for her but she had learned that they were often not wrong. A gift from Tsunami perhaps. Still, she hated feeling helpless and in this particular situation, she was about as helpless as she could get.

'_Don't despair, Sasami_.' An otherworldly voice echoed in her mind.

"Tsunami?" She asked.

'_Yes..._' The voice was gentle and her fears began to abate. '_Lord Tenchi and Lady Ayeka will be safe. I have set events in motion that will assist them._'

"Oh Tsunami, what can I do though?" Sasami frowned. "I want to help them!"

'_Your belief in them has helped them, Sasami._'

"But I don't understand..."

'_Your heart amplified my abilities, your desire made the action, your mind directed the motion._'

"Huh?" Sasami tilted her head.

'_Rest, Sasami... Trust in me...'_

Sasami yawned and stretched. "Alright, Tsunami..." She muttered, lowering herself to the ground slowly, her eyes closed before she was fully prone and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her breathing became regular and a light blue glow fell over her as a silhouette watched with a smile...

Strength slowly ebbed through her aching muscles and the pains in her chest had subsided gradually over the past hour. Her knees trembled from exhaustion and she finally had to lean against the filthy wall to rest—an activity that her eyes particularly appreciated as they still burned from the light she had been swathed in earlier.

For however long she had been stumbling around the ruins of the sewer, she had become accustomed to the trickle of the water along the cobble. Sliding to the floor, she pulled her knees to her chest to avoid the water. A numb feeling started in her toes and worked its way up slowly. Her eyes darted open as she realized she was falling asleep... '_No, Ryoko! Even if it _was _safe, you can't sleep now!_' She started to rise and a sound up the tunnel gave her pause.

Levitating effortlessly to her feet, she listened carefully for a moment and formed her sword. It was footsteps, pacing slowly through the water in her direction. '_It's about time_.' She gritted her teeth. '_I hope to God you're the thing that brought me here._' Dropping into a defensive crouch, she held her sword before her and waited...

The footsteps stopped just around the corner ahead and a head peaked around the stone. It was small and round with a tiny beard and a ruddy nose. The eyes were set wide a part, tiny orbs of blue in a tan field of leathery skin. He hopped from around the corner and stood some twenty feet before her, his thick body not more than four feet tall.

He was dressed in brown breaches that tucked into what appeared to be suede boots. A red shirt clung to his disproportionate frame and he wore a dagger on his left like a sword. He smiled up at her and waved a stubby fingered hand. "Ryoko?" He asked with a squeaky voice.

"How do you know who I am?" She relaxed her stance a bit but kept the weapon pointed in his direction.

"I know many things." He smiled and paced to the wall and leaned his shoulder against it. "One of my stature must learn many things or I'd be at a disadvantage to those of yours."

"Okay, what the hell do you want?"

"That's not very polite." He frowned. "You haven't even asked _my_ name."

"Maybe that tells you something about how much I care." She started toward him slowly. "So if you're going to just waste my time, I think I'll be going."

"Wait!" He cried. "You can't go yet!"

"Why?"

"You and I need to talk..."

"I haven't left yet." She tried to peer down the hall the way he had come but couldn't see anything but blackness.

"I know about your dreams... I know about the thinning border between your realms of existence."

She gave him a sharp look. "Mind explaining that?"

"Your mind has been tricked when you entered the dream realm physically... specifically, your subconscious." He paused and looked at her expectantly but when she said nothing, he continued. "When you transported yourself through the barrier that until then had only been frequented by your subconscious, it was convinced that all of you belonged there."

"I don't get it... You're saying that my falling into those dream states is because my subconscious is confused?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. But here's the tricky part." The little guy grinned and she couldn't say she appreciated the mischievousness that twinkled behind his eyes. "Your physical body and mind know where they belong and so they're in turmoil with your subconscious, fighting to keep you in what you might call the 'real world' although that phrase is something of a misnomer."

She juggled what he was telling her and gazed at him critically. "You know so much, how do I solve this problem?"

"The one thing you'll never do. The one thing you can't do." His tone almost seemed to mock her.

"There's very little that I can't do." She squinted at him. "What is it?"

"You have no idea who you are, Ryoko. No one does. That makes it somewhat difficult to know peace."

"Of course I know who I am!" She took an angry step toward him.

He chuckled and did a little jig, stopping suddenly to stare at her gravely. "Really... That's why the rage in your heart burns in constant argument with the compassion in your soul. Why you live in duality. Your love for this boy Tenchi and your sordid past as a criminal. Who are you trying to fool? Certainly not me..." A giggle wracked his body. "It must be you!"

"Damn it, you little bastard." She grimaced. "Why don't you show me how smart you _really_ are and tell me what it is that I won't ever do."

"My, my, my you are mighty testy, Miss Ryoko!" He sighed and let his smile drip away as she stared at him angrily. "Alright, I'll try to help you. But it won't do any good."

"Let me be the judge of that."

"Haven't you ever thought about your relationships with the others in your social circle? With Ayeka, Sasami, Washu, Tenchi..."

"Of course I have. I think about it all the time."

"Ah, but not the right way! How would you describe your relationship with Ayeka?"

She came up with a snazzy remark but held it back. "Turbulent I guess."

"At odds for a prize perhaps? That is how you look at Tenchi right?"

"Absolutely not! How dare you presume—"

"I presume nothing!" He threw his arms over his head and flailed them about for a moment, finally calming down and shaking his head at her. "You are a criminal—a pirate. What did you work for your whole career but the prize? Striving to steal what you couldn't earn... Your worthiness must have been questioned, otherwise why the arrogance? Where does it come from? It's a safety measure isn't it? Yes, it must be. You're begging for forgiveness but you're too proud to ask for it and so you pretend to be so superior that no one will get close to you. Not even your beloved Tenchi..."

"Shut up!" She cried, bringing the sword to point at his throat again. "That's not true!"

"Then why were you a pirate? Why are you so arrogant? Why do you play at being something that you're not?"

"I'm not!" She yelled, the sword disappearing as she fell to her knees. "I'm not..."

"Of course you are." He was finally able to gaze at her without looking up. "Why would you be on your knees if you didn't agree with some of what I've said?"

She shot her gaze up at him, the expression behind her eyes a mixture of rage and lunacy. "You have no idea what I feel... what I live with day to day. Certainly, there's guilt... But everyone feels that for something in their lives."

"Do they?"

"You're trying to twist everything! How do I know that you're not part of the problem?"

"How do you know?" He laughed. "You don't _know_ anything. You're a creature of passion, Ryoko—Of instinct. You don't have knowledge, you don't use your head. Even now, you're contemplating using your blade to run me through... What would that prove? It would only further my point that you're consumed by your passions. Controlled by whatever whim your emotions wish to chase."

"I'm finished talking to you." Her voice was even and calm. "You obviously know nothing about me if you really think that I have no control over myself." She looked past him. "At the end of this tunnel, lies the answer to how I can escape this purgatory. Move aside."

"You think that you're ready to face that answer? That you could embrace what it would have you do?"

"I'm finished with you, dwarf." She pushed herself to her feet and walked past him.

"You can't just leave! I'm not finished with you!"

"You won't fill me with self doubt." She responded.

"That's not why I sought you."

"Then I'm sorry you wasted your time." She could hear him responding but ignored the content of his dribble. '_Focus, Ryoko_.' She reminded herself. '_Focus and determination..._'


	6. Episode 6: No Need for Reminiscing

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 6: No Need for Reminiscing

"The Soja?" Ayeka looked at Tenchi then to Kiyone. "What's going on?"

"I don't think it's the _real_ Soja, Ayeka." Kiyone looked down at the scanners and nodded. "I remember the signature from the Soja and these are much weaker."

"Nevertheless," Tenchi gestured at the screen. "It's firing on us!" Ryo-Ohki quaked from a concussion and everyone scrambled to get a hold of something.

"Mihoshi, fire at will!" Kiyone called over her communicator while working feverishly at the control station she had posted herself at.

A variety of blasts struck the Soja, careening it so that it's subsequent attacks flew harmlessly over Ryo-Ohki. The tiny bubbles of fire quickly faded from the hull of the enemy vessel and the damage seemed to 'heal' almost instantaneously.

"I'm initiating an energy net, Mihoshi." Kiyone looked up at the screen. "Prepare to stop firing on my mark. Three... two... one... Mark!" She tapped a button and the firing stopped as a blue force field shot from Ryo-Ohki and surrounded the Soja.

Blasts exploded from within the net but it wasn't able to penetrate the field. Kiyone looked at Tenchi. "Tenchi, can you please monitor this station for me while I get back to our ship to call for some backup? Watch the energy output from the Soja. If it starts to increase, then turn up the fields power to compensate. I don't think we'll have any problems holding whoever that is here."

"No problem, Kiyone." Tenchi stood beside the console. Ayeka looked over his shoulder and watched Kiyone depart.

"What do you think is going on, Ayeka?" Tenchi asked while intently staring at the meters.

"I'm not entirely certain, Tenchi." She sighed. "I'm sure it has to do with Ryoko though."

"That's not very fair." He frowned.

"I'm not being critical, I honestly believe that Ryoko's problems and this are tied in together. That thing out there... maybe it's from her dream dimension."

"You're probably right." Tenchi thought a moment. "What if her dimension is just getting more and more powerful? What if parts of her dimension are breaking through the same barrier that the nightmare pierced the first time and are flooding into this world?"

"It could be a resurgence of everything we've ever faced." Ayeka grimaced. "What would we have to do?"

"Somehow destroy the portal perhaps?" Tenchi shrugged. "The activities for dealing with these parallel dimensions is one hundred percent Washu's department."

Ayeka looked over at the still form of Ryoko. "I wonder what she's doing right now... in her dream realm."

"I hope that she's alright." Tenchi hazarded a quick glance at her before looking back at the meters and made a slight adjustment.

"Tenchi," Kiyone's voice crackled through a speaker over his head. "We've got some backup coming to help contain whatever is in that Soja. I'm going to replace the energy net with our own and then you guys get out of here. Ryo-Ohki isn't necessarily a 'friendly' vessel in the eyes of the GP."

"Sounds good, Kiyone." Tenchi replied. "We've got to get Ryoko back to Washu anyway."

Ayeka walked over to Ryoko and scrutinized her for a few moments. Her eyes widened and she clasped at Ryoko's wrist with a frown. "Tenchi, I think that you need to see this..."

"Ryoko!" The dwarf hurried after her and she sighed without turning.

"Go away!"

"You don't understand! You need my help."

"Now's not the time for self reflection." Ryoko paused a moment to scan the hall before her. The blackness ahead was brightening and she could see a beam of sunlight peaking through some broken mortar. She stayed a feeling of excitement. "I have to get back to Tenchi."

"What do you think is going on you idiot?" He was jumping up and down, splashing in the water and she turned with a frown. "Do you think that you can just 'go back' with a snap of your fingers? You're not that omnipotent."

"You realize that you were on my nerves a long time ago. Just imagine where you're at in regards to my temper now."

"Ryoko, this goes beyond you and your problems. Existence is in danger as the dimension of your dream infringes on reality."

"Okay, assuming that I believe a word you're saying, what do I do about it?"

"The dimension is yours... you have to confront that which has taken shape and directs the rest. The nightmare that you gave form to now fuels the rest as you give both shape with your subconscious mind." He ran his hands over his face and looked up at her, obviously frustrated. "Remember that I told you that you don't know yourself? That you have no control over yourself? I can't believe I'm spelling this out to you but your dreams are yours to control—Even the nightmares."

"So you're saying—"

"That you're passions are running wild without you controlling them. Nightmares are no different than dreams, they just take on your anxieties and fears... your hatred and your guilt. Unfortunately, in your case hatred and guilt were a part of your life for a very long time and have great power. You're a dangerous woman based not only on your skill but with how much control your passion has over those skills. What you face is a creature born of every negativity welled up in you for the duration of time you've lived."

Ryoko took a deep breath and shook her head. The thought was more than unpleasant and though she tried to fight the thought, it was like a bad dream. Frowning at her own horrible pun, she looked at the dwarf and squinted irritably at him. "So why didn't you just say so earlier? Why all the personal attack?"

"To see if I was right about how volatile you are. I was dead on."

"Great." She rolled her eyes and paced away. "So what should I do? Where am I now? I presumed I was in the dimension of my dreams..."

"You're correct. You passed out on the bridge of Ryo-Ohki but you were in and out of consciousness the whole time between arriving back to reality from the dream world."

"Because it's drawing energy from my body to maintain it's existence."

"Until it manages to completely take over the real world... Upon which time, all that was will cease to be."

Ryoko grinned suddenly and nodded. "I think I know how to handle this."

"What's that?" The dwarf cocked his head curiously.

"Nothing." She waved at him and lifted into the air to float toward the light. "I've got to go... I've got a plan. Thank you for the help despite being a total pain in the ass."

"Wait!" The dwarf tried to keep up with her but had to stop. "What's the plan?" He asked quietly, more to himself since she was long gone. "I hope you know what you're doing." He plopped down in the water and began to brood.

"Tenchi!" Washu's voice broke through the speaker of Ryo-Ohki as they began their descent into Earth's atmosphere. "Can you hear me?"

"Miss Washu, sure I can. What's up?"

"Lots! I've been trying to reach you for over an hour!"

"We were being jammed by another ship." Ayeka responded. "What's wrong?"

"I've got some desperate news about Ryoko's nightmare creature. It seems that her dream world is melding with our own."

"Oh my..." Ayeka looked back at Ryoko.

"Ryoko passed out while on the trip." Tenchi frowned. "In fact, her life signs are extremely weak."

Washu drew a deep breath. "Yeah, I figured as much."

"What is it, Washu?" Ayeka asked.

"Regardless of the fact that Ryoko's dream world has taken physical form, she's still tied to it. As a result of that bond, I believe that it is still pulling energy from her to keep its form."

"How do we stop it?" Tenchi was getting frustrated. "It's going to kill her!"

"We have to get to the heart of her dimension and put a stop to that which is clinging to Ryoko."

"But isn't it that creature that Ryoko and Tenchi fought the night he crossed over into her dream?" Ayeka asked.

"I believe so, yes."

"We couldn't fight that, Washu!" Tenchi frowned. "We couldn't hurt it!"

"You didn't get a lot of chance to try. Ryoko got frightened and she fled. Perhaps the lighthawk wings—"

"How do we get there?" Tenchi interrupted suddenly, a new determination in his voice.

"I'm working on a portal now. It should be ready by the time you get back."

"I'll be ready." Tenchi turned away from the comm. and peered down at Ryoko. Ayeka put her hand on his shoulder gently.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Her tone was hopeful but contained.

"I think that I should go alone, Ayeka." He put his hand on hers. "Remember that you... that you weren't alive in that world. I wish that you could come, but I think that this time it would be best if you stayed behind."

"Oh... okay, Tenchi." She looked down. "I understand..."

"Besides, I might need you to bring me back." He looked over his shoulder with a grin and she returned the smile weakly. "Someone needs to keep Miss Washu in check."

Back in Washu's lab, Tenchi stood ready dressed in his battle suit and holding the master key as Washu performed a number of calculations. Ayeka stood nearby quietly and aside from the whirring of machines and the digital bleeps of the computers, all was silent.

When the door flew open, it was as if someone threw a rock through the window of tension that had built up. Sasami jogged in and grabbed Tenchi's arm. "Tenchi! You can't go alone! I need to go with you!"

"Sasami," Tenchi turned and looked at her oddly. "It's going to be much too dangerous for you to—"

"You don't understand! Tsunami wants me to go with you!"

"Tsunami?" Tenchi looked over at Ayeka who shrugged a response.

"Yes, Tsunami." Yosho was standing at the door, his arms crossed. "I'm afraid she's right, Tenchi. She needs to accompany you on this quest."

"But Grandpa, don't you think that she's a little young?"

"She has the power of Tsunami with her as you well know. That will be a valuable ally in this task."

Tenchi looked between Sasami and Ayeka again before shrugging. "Alright, Sasami. Looks like we're together for this one."

"Yay!" She smiled at him.

"Sasami," Ayeka frowned. "I... I don't feel very comfortable about this."

"Don't worry, Ayeka." She cast a knowing look at her sister. "I have to do this."

"We're all ready over here." Washu looked up from her computer and rubbed her chin. "As soon as you're ready, you can depart."

"I think we're ready, Washu." Tenchi stepped to the center of the room and stood below the red gem stuck in the machine on the ceiling and Sasami followed, her shoulders set and expression firm.

"I'll be monitoring you the entire time." Washu gestured to the master key. "When you're ready to come back, I'll be able to pull you back using the gems on the hilt of key. Got it?"

"No problem, Miss Washu." Tenchi looked at Yosho and Ayeka. "I'll put an end to this."

"Of course you will." Yosho nodded.

"Be careful... the both of you." Ayeka folded her hands behind her back and blinked away a worried tear.

"We will." Sasami waved as a red glow encompassed the room, erasing their features and making crimson silhouettes of the two. A high pitch sound erupted from the gem and reverberated off the walls, building in volume until it was almost unbearable. The sound stopped so suddenly that for a moment it was hard to believe that it had even happened except for the absence of Tenchi and Sasami who had disappeared as the commotion ended.

"Washu!" Kiyone's voice crackled on a speaker overhead in the lab just after Tenchi and Sasami disappeared.

"What's up, Kiyone? There's a lot of interference." Washu tried to adjust the signal on the communication with a frown.

"We have another problem."

Washu sighed. "Let me have it."

"I don't know if you've heard or not, but we encountered another Soja...conflict... Galaxy... vessels... Kagato escaped though so... do you think?"

"Kiyone, I barely got half of that message. Say again!"

"Watch out... Kagato... Ryoko..." The signal fell dead.

Ayeka exchanged a glance with Washu before turning to walk into the hall, head bowed. Yosho watched her go then paced further into the lab. "If Kagato is after Ryoko for one reason or another, he'll be fairly disappointed to find that she's in the place he just left."

"There are a hundred theories as to what sort of threat he'll be." Washu rubbed her chin. "Does he want revenge against Tenchi or all of us? Or does he want Ryoko because he's from her dreams? I suppose we won't know until we encounter him."

"Indeed." Yosho smiled knowingly. "Any speculation would be purely academic at this stage. We have one thing on our side: the Soja gems will not be real and therefore, his powers will be lessoned on this world until the dimension further develops."

"That explains how they were able to deal with the Soja at all." Washu pursed her lips. "We have quite a lot on our side and yet, I get the feeling that several problems out of our past could come to haunt us."

"It is a risk of course. Everyone has demons that they exercise in their dreams... now we know what a supposed demon does in hers." Yosho paced to the door. "For now, our role is one of waiting. Keep me informed of anything you find out."

Washu nodded and turned back to the controls with a sigh. Patting her stomach, she hopped out of her chair to fetch some food... it was promising to be a long night.

Red... all around like a crimson lens placed over the eyes, the world swam in blood. He could make out details through the haze for a moment: Ayeka's worried expression, Yosho watching curiously, Washu working the controls to send them through the dimension... but they all faded... turning from blur to silhouettes before finally blending in completely with the surrounding spectrum.

A sense of vertigo fell over his senses and worked its way down to his stomach to become nausea. Was he floating? Falling? Standing still? He couldn't tell. His hand was still on Sasami's shoulder but beyond that tactile affirmation of reality, he was in limbo.

And then it all ended as abruptly as it began. Sunlight attacked his eyes and he started to fall to the ground. He put his hands out and went into a reactionary shoulder roll coming up to a crouching position as Sasami sprawled beside him on her stomach.

"Are you alright?" He asked quickly, putting his hand on her back gently.

"Yeah," She said with a moan. "Just lost my breath for a second."

He nodded and surveyed the area for any landmarks. "I think we're near the house."

"Really?" She pushed herself up and brushed off dirt that attached itself to her shirt. "How far?"

"Not very... Maybe a half mile at the most." He rubbed his chin. "The real question is where is the nightmare centered?"

"We should think of the place that Ryoko would least likely want to go—"

"The cave!" Tenchi cried. "It has to be where it is."

"Ho there!" Both turned to look up as Ryoko came flying down and landed in front of them. "Tenchi? Are you... are you the—"

"Yeah, Ryoko. Sasami and I came through to take care of the nightmare."

"So you know that the worlds are merging?"

"Washu figured it out. The Soja appeared in our universe... That was what Kiyone and Mihoshi were after."

Ryoko sighed. "This really is getting out of hand."

"Are you okay?" He put his hand on her shoulder. "Your body is back home... and it's not doing very well."

"I feel fine but... well, I can feel the drain that this world has on me physically but it's not painful or even tiring—it actually manifests as a sense of urgency. Like I have to do something."

"We've figured it out." Sasami cried. "We have to destroy the creature that's keeping all this alive... the creature that's using your physical energy to merge the two worlds."

"I was en route to accomplish a similar goal." She smirked. "But I've brought some help."

"What do you mean?" Tenchi asked.

"Well, I figured that since this was my dream, I could maybe work with it a bit... get creative." She looked up at the sky and motioned for something to come down. "So I went and found some help."

Tenchi did a double take as another Ryoko landed gracefully on the ground beside him, smiling as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Huh?" He looked between them both. "I don't get it..."

"In the real world, I merged with Zero Ryoko... but here things are a bit different."

"I can see that..." Tenchi motioned for the real Ryoko to step aside with him and he lowered his voice to whisper. "Are you sure that this is safe? I mean, Zero Ryoko turned out all right in the end but—"

"Relax Tenchi." She gave him a sly look. "This is my world after all and with each passing moment I gain more control."

He nodded and looked back at Zero Ryoko who was chatting with Sasami. "Do you know where we're going?"

She paled slightly and nodded. "The cave."

"Well, at least I was right." He clasped her shoulder. "We'll face this together, the four of us. You're not alone..."

She put her hand on his and squeezed it. "Thanks. But we have to hurry."

"Right." Tenchi turned back to Sasami and Zero. "Ready?"

A synchronized nod.

"Let's get to it then."

"Not quite so fast... boy." A familiar voice froze him in his tracks and his fists involuntarily balled as a figure winked into existence near the tree line they would have to pass through to get to the cave.

"Kagato," Tenchi sneered.

"It's so nice to see you again, really it is. I suppose you thought that our last encounter would be the last we'd have." Kagato shrugged. "Of course, I can see how an insignificant Juraian might bask in his own opulent arrogance."

"We don't have time for this," Ryoko formed her sword and aimed it at Kagato's throat. "Move aside, Kagato. You're not even real."

Kagato shook his head. "You understand nothing, Ryoko." He paced, his gaze rising to the sky. "You think you know where you are, that you have power over that which you created but such a complex act as genesis is as beyond you as intelligent thought. Therefore, while the capacity to manifest this brilliant place, and consequently my resurrection, existed within you, anything beyond that has been luck and accidents."

"Shut up Kagato!" Sasami yelled. "You hold no power here!"

"Little one—"

"We won't be delayed by the ravings of an ego maniac!" Sasami's small body seemed to glow as she yelled, her eyes closing as she lifted off the ground to hover five feet high. Kagato watched curiously, his own sword forming as he casually brought his hand around in front of him. He cast a quick glance to Tenchi.

"This won't be the last time we meet here, boy." Kagato watched Sasami as his form faded to nothing.

"That's wonderful." Tenchi rolled his eyes. "Now we've got Kagato roaming around too. I wonder if this can get any worse?"

"Sure it can." Ryoko looked at Sasami who was slowly floating back down to the ground. "What did you do, Sasami?"

"Some of Tsunami's power manifested in me... I was going to attack Kagato if he didn't leave."

"Wow, way to go." Ryoko looked around. "But we need to be on the look out. He's a sneaky bastard and sadly, he's just as powerful here as he was in our own universe."

"I don't really think we need to worry about him." Zero smiled. "Considering the four of us should be more than a match for him."

"Nevertheless, let's get moving and handle this as quickly as possible." Ryoko took the lead and plunged into the woods, hovering just a foot off the ground and watching the tree line attentively. Tenchi followed with Sasami trailing and Zero taking up the back.

Ryoko paused a moment with a frown. Something on the breeze...? A sound as if someone moving in the trees... a rustle of leaves and a glint of metal from the sun—Her eyes widened and she managed to throw herself on Tenchi just as a blast erupted from the left of the path and shattered the trunk of a tree where they were walking. "Down! It's the Galaxy Police!" She screamed.

"What?" Sasami yelled back as she took cover. "But why?"

"One of the less dangerous, more annoying nightmares that I have had in the past." She grunted, trying to see where their attackers were taking cover.

"Surrender Ryoko!" A rough voice cried from the bushes. "There will be no more warnings."

"Go away!" She cried back. "We don't have time for you."

"You've been warned!" Another blast exploded from the trees and slammed into the ground, showering dirt over them.

"That's it." She launched herself into the air and teleported with Zero mimicking her motion almost perfectly. Tenchi tried to say something but was too late.

She appeared high above the tree line and squinted through the leaves and finally caught site of the three people hiding in the brush some thirty yards from the path with a rifle and two pistols. With a grin, she teleported again, appearing directly behind them with her sword out. The rifle fired again before she cut it in half and kicked one of the men in the head, hurling him against a tree and into unconsciousness.

The one holding the rifle turned quickly and fell back over his cover and tried to draw his pistol but she threw an energy blast in his direction and connected with the ground he was about to land on tossing him several feet from the concussion. The third had his weapon out as she turned to him and he aimed at her head.

"Freeze!" He cried in despair, sweat pouring from his forehead and the barrel of the weapon quivering from his nerves.

She smiled at him. "But... which of us should freeze?" She motioned to her left and Zero appeared. He aimed his weapon at the newcomer.

"What the hell?" He bit his lip. "Both of you freeze!"

"But one of us can't be real..." Zero grinned.

"She's right." Ryoko shrugged. "I guess I'll just fade out of existence..."

With that she teleported above him and he panicked, looking around frantically and nearly screaming when he looked up and was staring directly into her eyes. "Surprise!" She said, grabbing him by the shoulders and lifting him off the ground.

He cried out in terror and dropped his gun to grab onto her hands, assuring his safety in his own mind. She carried him up to a tall tree and dropped him on the branch, hovering away from him a few feet and folding her arms over her chest. "Now you be a good boy and wait for your friends to regain consciousness. I don't have time for you right now." She turned to leave and he cried out for her.

"Wait! You can't leave me here!"

"I already have." She said as she winked out and reappeared by Tenchi and Sasami. "Okay, two problems down..."

"A billion to go?" Tenchi finished for her sarcastically as they started down the path again, their wariness increased.

"At least there's a bright side. At least we know the creature considers us a threat." Ryoko gave him a knowing wink and turned her attentions back to the path.


	7. Episode 7: No Need for Reality

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 7: No Need for Reality

Silence... It was too quiet... The wind was absent, the birds solemn in the afternoon sun. The entrance of the cave cast its darkness out of the mouth into the clearing just before it, an ominous shadow blackening nature and turning the grass gray with its touch.

Tenchi wiped his brow of sweat and glanced at his companions for any signs of whether they were as nervous as he. Ryoko was more pale than he had ever seen her before, her eyes displaying the conflict in her soul concerning her own private inhibitions about entering the cave. She had avoided it since she had been released, not even willing to discuss it for more than a few moments, at least not directly. Now she had to find it in herself to go in and face her greatest fear. No one could say she was a coward.

Zero Ryoko was mirroring her twins expression though there was a more confident air about her. Perhaps she didn't share the sensation that the creature waiting within was the most terrifying manifestation of Ryoko's mind.

Sasami was the only one of them that didn't seem worried. In fact, her face held an expression of determination, her hands balled into fists. The symbiosis between her and Tsunami was difficult to understand but the strength that it granted the girl was amazing. She was so easy to underestimate and yet she contained the spirit of one of the most powerful beings in the universe within her tiny frame. The task they faced was in good hands.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ryoko tried to sound light but it fell short. "We should get in there."

"Right." Tenchi nodded but no one moved.

"How are we going to do this?" Sasami asked without looking away from the cave as if she was convinced that at any moment the monster would emerge from the darkness and attack them.

"That's a good question—" Ryoko paused and spun around just in time to take a blow to her head, sending her sailing through the air to land on the ground. Tenchi, Sasami and Zero Ryoko hurried to her side, taking a defensive stance against... nothing.

"Ryoko, what happened?" Tenchi asked.

"I don't know. I didn't get a look before I was hit."

A green blade flashed toward Tenchi's head but Zero Ryoko dove forward, her sword appearing to block the attack with perfect form. "Kagato!" She cried, entering a fierce melee with parries and attacks that took the two down the hill a ways before anyone could react.

"We've got to help her!" Sasami yelled but Ryoko caught her by the shoulder.

"No, we've got to get in there and stop that creature while he's occupied. We're running out of time."

"Tenchi?" Sasami looked at him hopefully.

"I'm afraid she's right, Sasami. Zero should be able to take care of herself."

"But—" Sasami stopped and looked down with a nod. "Alright... Let's go."

The turned and charged into the cave, Ryoko only pausing a moment to grapple with her fears. The darkness within was more than oppressive, it was suffocating. It was as if there was some force pressing on each side of them, stifling their breathing and keeping them from moving much quicker than a stiff jog.

"How can it be causing this?" Sasami asked as she struggled to continue forward.

"It's most powerful here... where it was born." Ryoko replied.

"How... how can we possibly fight this?" Sasami felt a wave of despair coming over her. She didn't feel so strong all of a sudden... until she felt the light.

It wasn't bright, not at first. It built up from her wrist and was only a sensation at first, building up her strength to move before finally piercing the black of the tunnel. As the shadows recessed so did the power pushing against them and they were able to proceed unhindered.

"That's how we'll fight it, Sasami." Tenchi patted her shoulder. "It's all about believing we can."

"Please." Ryoko gave him a wry look. "It's all about the skill I'm going to demonstrate to this shadowy son of a bitch when I cut him into six different pieces."

"Well, there's that too." Tenchi grinned to himself, glad that she was able to adopt an attitude even if it was mostly contrived.

The layout of the cave was different than Tenchi remembered from his last encounter. It didn't slope down and there were no landmarks that he could name. Perhaps it was changing things to fit its own idea of how the universe would look when it took over. There was little time for speculation though it eased his mind to try and explain his sudden feeling of being lost. "Do you know where we are, Ryoko?" He asked cautiously, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yes." She answered flatly. At the same instant she spoke, Sasami and Tenchi understood what she meant. Not twenty meters in front of them was the center of the cave and the source of the power.

The creature throbbed in the center like a heart formed of shadow, collecting energy from Ryoko's physical form and using it to seize control of both worlds. It wasn't clear how they saw into the chamber—especially since the creature sat amongst a flat background of pure darkness and still managed to stick out as a black spot against it.

Ryoko let her sword form and took a step forward but Sasami took her arm. "No, Ryoko! You can't defeat it like that."

"What are you talking about?" Ryoko glanced back at her. "We don't have time for this, Sasami."

"You can't hurt it with that. We have to find... another way!"

"Well, I'm open to suggestions. Times running out!"

"Let me try the lighthawk wings!" Tenchi cried, hurrying forward.

He closed his eyes, drawing strength from his inner spirit and concentrating on manifesting it in the purity of his birthright. A quivering started in his feet and built to trembling as he found himself unable to find the energy. He tried harder, focusing all of his attention until a scream escaped him and he dropped to his knees.

"Tenchi!" Sasami and Ryoko yelled together, hurrying to his side to pull him back.

"What happened?" Ryoko asked.

"I'm not sure." Tenchi shrugged. "I couldn't form the lighthawk wings..."

"I think that's enough, Space Pirate." A voice cried from the darkness and a blast erupted from a pistol. Ryoko dodged aside, the blast disappearing into the creature's chamber.

"Who now?" She asked, waiting patiently for the next attack to come.

"GP. You're under arrest."

"Nice way to identify yourself."

"You leave her alone!" Sasami yelled at him. "Back off! We're in the middle of something very important here!"

"You've got some interesting partners now, Ryoko. You're all under arrest."

At that moment, a rumbling pulled all of their attentions toward the creature as it moved into the tunnel, laughing a horrible sound like a million souls crying out in agony at once. "Ryoko!" The cacophony sounded joyous. "I'm so glad you could make it. Much easier to deal with the remains of your consciousness if you're right here..."

"No!" Ryoko yelled at it, taking a step forward. "I'm ready for you!"

"Then let us get this over with, shall we?" It advanced and she stood her ground, staring at it intently. Closer, and closer Tenchi and Sasami exchanged a confused glance, unaware of what to do.

Inches a part, Ryoko looked into the obsidian eyes and smiled. "It ends now." Her voice was quiet, calm... unlike anything anyone had ever heard from her before.

"You're correct." The voices said. "For the place you once called 'reality'."

They touched, a spark of gray erupting at the point of contact as the two screamed out in surprise and pain. Tenchi took a step forward but didn't know what he could do. They seemed to be merging but there was a conflict... perhaps to see which would control the other...

"I can help her, Tenchi!" Sasami yelled. "I can stop this!"

A blast erupted from the GP officer and Sasami cried out in pain as the blast exited through her shoulder. "Wha--?" Tenchi gasped, leaping through the air to pommel the man with two swift punches to the head, cracking him to unconsciousness. "Sasami," He knelt beside her. "Are you alright?"

"Tenchi—" She swallowed. "We... have to... give her... our... power... We have... to help her... control..."

"How?!" Tenchi looked up at Ryoko then to Sasami.

"It's... up to... you... now..." Sasami collapsed to unconsciousness and Tenchi pushed up with a sigh.

"What do I do?" He asked himself, advancing slowly, looking at Ryoko with concern. She seemed to be losing the battle though it was hard to tell with both of them swirling around as they were.

Something struck him at that instance, something hard to define... a feeling? Maybe more... He knew what to do... As he gazed at Ryoko, a tenderness touched his heart but it had strength, almost a physical manifestation in his heart. It filled his limbs and surety lifted his spirits.

"Ryoko!" He called, plunging into the shadow to take her in his arms. "Ryoko, I love you!" He felt suddenly frantic and he placed a hand on either cheek. Gently, he pressed his lips against hers.

Weightlessness overtook him and they were spinning... spiraling downward to some unknown destination... He didn't care. Pressed against her like that, he felt more at home than he had his whole life as though everything in his mind became clear. Questions, concerns, all were stayed in the beating of a moment... He heard Ryoko's voice in his mind, a shadow of a whisper.

"I love you too, Tenchi..."

Zero hopped back and paused in the attack to grin at Kagato. "Seems you lose."

"If I lose, we both lose... You and I are from the same place, Zero."

Zero shrugged. "What must be done must be done..."

"Not exactly what I'd expect from one of your reputation."

"I should say the same about you... You're not nearly as impressive as I remember. Your reputation greatly exceeds your abilities."

Kagato snuffed at the remark and shrugged. "I was going easy on a potential ally."

"Then you were wasting your time."

"Was I? I would figure that you and I would have so much in common."

"Did you make so many mistakes when you weren't the figment of Ryoko's dream world?"

"If you don't ally with me, then I'll have to destroy you."

"If that means I don't have bear your ego anymore, then please do it."

"You're making a terrible mistake."

"Are you afraid of me, is that why you're stalling?" Zero chuckled. "You realize that with each passing moment, your existence is not only threatened but slowly cast into the darkness from where it came? Before you finish your negotiation with me, we'll both be dead."

"It doesn't have to be that way." Kagato paused then chuckled. "But you seem determined..." Zero tried to dodge an attack she was sure would come but Kagato managed to anticipate her move.

His blade plunged through her stomach, pinning her to a tree as he looked into her eyes. "Not all negotiations are sought to come to a peaceful conclusion." She looked down at him with surprise, unable to breath. Her legs were numb, her fingers tingling with the lack of sensation. 'Inhale, girl...' She told herself but her body wouldn't respond. Darkness closed at the edges of her vision and she managed a defiant stare into Kagato's face before passing into oblivion... Her last thoughts drifted away like an echo in a dream 'I hope I bought them enough time...'

"Washu! What's happening!?" Ayeka pointed at the gauge that was going crazy, indicating the stability of Ryoko's dream dimension.

"Either they are succeeding or we're about to be assimilated by the new universe, I can't tell which."

"Ryoko isn't looking well." Ayeka motioned. "Her vital signs are the lowest I've seen them yet."

"She'll come through if it's at all possible, Ayeka." Washu frowned. "She has to."

"Oh no." Ayeka's voice was hardly above a whisper. "Washu..."

Washu followed her gaze and gasped. Ryoko's life readings were gone. It was over.

Screams echoed across the mountain, shaking the trees and terrifying anything alive to flee. A culture... no, an entire collection of creatures cried out their agony and fear. There was a subtle undertone to the event, something that touched the fabric of creation and shook it to the core.

As the ground began to Quake, Kagato sighed and rolled his eyes. "Perhaps I underestimate you, Ryoko." He proceeded quietly into the cave, his body tense for action.

Seams of light were tearing through the rock walls, the glow of some light that was more pure than the sunlight beaming through. He paid no attention, somehow instinctively knowing where he was heading.

He paused to kneel next to Sasami and checked for a life sign. She was still breathing but a wound in her shoulder was still bleeding. "Kagato?! Freeze!" a frantic voice yelled from the darkness behind him.

"Amusing." Kagato shook his head and thrust his hand toward the GP officer, a green ball exploding from the tips of his fingers. The attack struck the man dead center, vaulting him back and onto the floor with a strangled cry. He struggled against the pain for all of a half minute before he finally let out a final exhale to death.

"Now," Kagato looked around. "To find the other two..."

"It won't help you, Kagato." He turned to see a stunning young woman standing just on the edge of darkness, her appearance much like Sasami's. She was dressed as Jurai royalty and for a moment, he thought he recognized her.

"And you are?"

"I'm here to stop you." She paced toward him. "You can't undo what is being done. You're a shadow in the wake of light and soon you'll be no more."

"That's fascinating but how am I to know that you're no different?"

She extended her hand and a blue glow emitted from her palm. "I am Tsunami." Her voice was low and dangerous. "While my powers were unable to help Ryoko, they are more than adequate to deal with you."

"Perhaps." Kagato formed his sword and held it defensively. "But something tells me that you aren't all that you appear. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you're nothing more than a manifestation of the nightmare's passing. When it's gone, I'll take its place and with the power of this universe as my own, I'll control creation itself. You're a phantom to me."

"Phantom or not," Sasami was standing, blood covering her torso as she struggled to maintain her footing. "We're still more than a match for you."

"Wha--?" He started but the blue light snaked out and surrounded him, tearing his life force away and trapping it to the rocks. He cried out, trying to swipe his sword at Sasami but the blade was gone as were his powers. Slowly, he fell to his knees and his senses darkened. "It... can't... end like... this..." He muttered, blood welling in his mouth.

"It did." Sasami wheezed, dropping to her knees from nausea and vertigo. "Did... did they succeed, Tsunami?"

"There's no way to know yet, Sasami..."

The room trembled again and light exploded in as part of the roof disappeared. A figure started toward them from the lair of the nightmare carrying another. "Tenchi!" Sasami cried. "You're alright!"

"I think we succeeded." He said, setting down Ryoko. "But I couldn't communicate with Washu."

"We have to breach the barrier." Tsunami approached him, placing her hands against his. "You can do it with the master key... I'll help."

Tenchi nodded, holding the key out for her to hold. He began to concentrate, visualizing... Ayeka. She was the first person to come to mind. There was a warmth to the thought, something about her that he could identify with. Perhaps it was the fact that they were related. He wasn't sure but something within him brought hope to the attempt.

A moment of silence followed. A cold feeling clasped his heart and he felt her presence. "Ayeka?" He asked hopefully.

"Lord Tenchi!" She cried in response. "What's happening? We thought you were gone!!"

"No, but we will be if we don't get some help soon." Tenchi paused. "We've got Ryoko with us and we're ready to come back."

"I'll tell Washu and we'll get you back. Hang tight!" Contact was broken and Tenchi slumped against the wall.

"I reached her. They're going to pull us through."

"Good, Sasami needs medical attention as soon as possible."

Tenchi glanced at the young girl and frowned. He pulled her to him and crouched beside Ryoko, clasping her around the waist. "Wish us luck, Tsunami." He remarked as the woman disappeared into the shadows.

"You hardly need it." Her voice echoed as she winked out.

The cave was shattering, blocks of rock disappearing faster than the light could take their place. Tenchi could barely maintain the crouched stance he held as the room quaked violently. It would be gone soon—the manifestation of the dream nothing more than a foggy moment after waking up.

In a way, it made him sad. A whole world was collapsing to emptiness, even if it wasn't necessarily real, it seemed a tragedy. Of course, the philosophical individual might argue that reality is in the mind and what has shape has reality. Academic... What was happening? He felt nauseous... Red light had surrounded them and he felt weightless as the world disappeared around them...


	8. Episode 8: No Need for Epilogues

Tenchi Muyo!: Someplace Like Home

By Robert B. Hazelton

Episode 8: No Need for Epilogues

Sand grated on fragile eyes... a mucky, thick taste rode his tongue like a coat of mud drawing a sneer to his lips. He winced from the pain in his head and closed his eyes tightly against the irritation in them. 'Where am I?' He wondered, trying to push himself up with his elbows but unable to move. 'Am I dead?'

"Lord Tenchi?" A familiar voice—Ayeka! "Lord Tenchi, can you hear me?"

He wanted to respond but couldn't find the voice. The fact was that he was having a hard time focusing on the voice. It was fading like he was falling asleep... 'Fight it, Tenchi!' He told himself desperately.

"It's no use, Ayeka." Was that Washu? It had to be... "He hasn't recovered enough yet. You'd better leave him to his rest."

"I thought we were so close this time..." Ayeka's voice faded to nothing and he was floating somewhere once again, lost in a void of darkness. What had happened? Where was he last?

Ryoko... They embraced... They kissed and the nightmare was dissipating when they went back to Sasami. She was hurt then... then Tsunami helped him contact Ayeka but—what happened next?

Frustrated, he turned his attention to his surroundings. Floating in nothingness alone... A dream, a hallucination from unconsciousness. He felt ill. He couldn't understand why he was incapacitated from the trip across the dimensions. A sudden flare of fear rose up in his chest: Were Sasami and Ryoko alright? He had no way of knowing. Hell, he didn't know if _he_ was alright...

A surge of nausea slapped his stomach and he realized his body was trying to wake up again. He fought with every ounce of will to open his eyes, to sit up. A blurry light came into view... a face... Ayeka! "Ay... Ayeka!" He managed a whisper.

"Lord Tenchi!" She cried, taking his hand. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes..." He nodded once. "What happened to me?"

"You and Ryoko were both unconscious when you came through." Ayeka looked up. "Ryoko's life signs picked back up but she has yet to come around. Sasami is in stable condition. It appears that you were successful in your mission."

He breathed a sigh of relief as best he could. "Good... I was beginning to wonder if I wasn't still in Ryoko's world."

"No, you're home Tenchi." She cupped his cheek in her hand gently. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I—"

"He needs this!" Washu came up and placed a small gem on his forehead. She stepped back to watch the results with satisfaction.

A moment passed before warmth flowed from his head to his toes like a slow running river through his veins. Strength touched as his fingertips, spreading to the rest of his body though not as much as he was accustomed to when in good health.

"What happened? What was that?" He asked.

"Just something to hurry you along the road to getting well." Washu chimed. "Gotta check on Ryoko now." She sauntered off and he returned his attentions to Ayeka.

"Is she going to be alright?"

Ayeka nodded. "From what Washu said, she's just asleep."

"What about Sasami? She was... she was shot..."

"Sasami's alright. When she returned, the wound was already almost healed. Washu gave her something and she's already up and about."

"This turned out alright after all." He allowed himself to relax and took a deep breath, happy that he was capable of such an act.

"Yes." Ayeka agreed, squeezing his hand. "It was touch and go there for a while."

"You're telling me." Tenchi managed a grin. "You should've seen it there... GP officers against us, Kagato, Earthquakes... It was insane."

"Oh, I do wish that I could've accompanied you." The concern in her voice was tinted with a little regret that didn't go unnoticed by Tenchi.

"Yes, you would've been a lot of help." Tenchi smiled at her. "It was a scary place."

"I'd brave anything with you." Her expression became gravely serious and he lost the smile, looking deep into her eyes for a long moment.

"I know you would, Ayeka. I know."

Ryoko sat below Funaho, peering into the pond deep in thought. She could remember very little about what happened prior to returning to the real world but there were images playing through her mind. Fleeting really, but she was in his arms... they were floating. It was black as pitch, they were alone together yet there was another presence. Silence and screaming existed simultaneously and the paradox pushed them closer together. They confessed their love for each other...

Did they? That was her most treasured dream. The realm of what was real and what was imagined over the last few days existed in gray portion of her mind. More than anything she wanted it be real... A sigh. What to do? How to go about it?

"Hey." She stiffened at Tenchi's voice. She turned to look up at him.

"Tenchi!" He smiled at her enthusiastic tone. "You're feeling better?"

"Yeah, Washu said I was just fatigued."

"I know _that_ feeling all too well."

He sat beside her, folding his hands in his lap. "Weird experience huh?"

"I wish that I could say it was one I would never forget but already it's fuzzy. Like the moments after you wake up... Memories lost to be recalled when the dream comes true."

"That was rather philosophical." He smiled. "I imagined that you'd be happy though... I mean, pleased that it was over."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to have all that behind me."

"What is it then?"

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes narrow as she scrutinized him. "Tenchi I—" She looked away. "I don't know. It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Tenchi! Ryoko! Where are you?" Sasami called from down the path. "Dinner's ready!"

Ryoko smiled at Tenchi, running her hand along his cheek. "Everything's fine Tenchi."

He squeezed her hand in response as they exchanged a knowing look. They rose together to meet Sasami, strolling away as they heard what was in store for the meal.

A tiny man sat on a branch of Funaho, grinning as the three walked away. "I underestimated you, Space Pirate Ryoko." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back. "We'll meet again, though. Perhaps then, I'll guess right." His form faded from sight as he spoke, leaving the tree to rustle in the breeze in solitude once again.


End file.
